Pokemon: B&W
by Melody Gardella
Summary: This is the much older and outdated version of "An Ideal Truth". Please go read that one instead omg
1. A life changing journey

"I wish that I could be a kind loving and strong Pokémon trainer who can become stronger and accept mistakes."

_The next morning…_

"Sara there's a package for you at the door!"

A tall girl around the age of 16 came sprinting down the stairs. She was wearing a white tank top with a short black vest, worn out rugged short shorts, poke ball ankle socks, Black and pink hiking boots that matched her bracelets on each wrist, her long, wavy, shining golden brown hair in a high ponytail with long wavy bangs falling at the side of her face. She wore a white and pink cap to keep her beautifully thick hair in a ponytail.

"Sara, don't run too fast you might trip!"

"Sorry Mom, but please try not to worry about me too much; I'm sixteen now" She said her shining blue eyes pleaded.

"….Aww you're growing up so fast, honey!" She exclaimed as she wrapped her daughter in a hug.

"I'm going to wait for my friends up stairs ok?" "Ok" Sara ran upstairs watching her favorite show, Pokémon Rangers: SOA. She looked down at the nicely wrapped parcel. "Resist the temptation" she thought "your friends will be here soon."

Surely enough, her friend Hilbert came up the stairs. He was about her age, with lighter hair than her's and brownish golden eyes and he was taller than her. He was wearing black and red cap, the same color as his lace-up _vans, _a blue jacket, _and_ black cargo pants.

Sara had a crush on him. She knew that he would never like her though. But he did.

"Oh hey Hilbert, you're kind of early want to watch this show with me?"

"Hmm… let's see… a girly shoujo version of Pokémon Ranger: SOA with like 15 romantic scenes per episode… nah I'm good.

"Suit yourself" She said with her eyes glued on the TV. "AWWW! I wish I had that much romance in my life!

"I should tell her know, get it over with before we become rivals, because it'll be really awkward then." Hilbert thought to himself.

"Umm… speaking of romance… Sara can I ask you something" Hilbert said

"Yeah sure what's up?" She said as she smiled with her twinkling blue eyes.

"Dammit. I can't tell her when she makes that kind of face." Hilbert thought as he blushed

"… I-It's nothing, don't worry about it" He stammered and Sara looked confusingly at him.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"Huh?" they both said at the same time and turned around.

It was their friend Cheren, who knocked on the doorway. "Hey Sara, Hey Hilbert. Am I late?

Sara turned off her TV. "Nope just on time." "Good, I didn't want to be late, it's an important day."

Cheren was also Sara's age, give or take a year. He's pretty tall and had his black hair neatly combed and his dark, blue eyes shined with determination behind his glasses. He wore an outfit that was like their uniform at the trainer school: A blue school jacket, a white t-shirt underneath that had a symbol which, to Sara, looked like a red "Y". He looked like he was wearing his black school pants with his blue slip-on _vans_.

"Yeah," replied Hilbert. "Oh Hilbert it looked like you were in the middle of telling _Sara_ something."

Cheren recited with slight mischief in his voice.

"Yeah Hilbert what did you want to tell me?"She asked curiously.

"I-I told you not to worry about it OK?" Hilbert stammered

"Oh here let's look at the package." Sara led them to a desk at the back of her room.

Cheren nudged Hilbert and gave him a knowing look. Hilbert gritted his teeth and glared at Cheren.

Cheren and Hilbert stood beside Sara.

"Let's open it! Finally!" Sara said cheerfully. "Wait… Where's Bianca?"Cheren asked. "Yeah I don't know …" Hilbert replied. Sara pouted, Hilbert kept looked at his watch, and Cheren crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.

A few minutes passed, then there was the noise of someone running up the stairs. Everyone turned around to see a rosy cheeked girl a year younger than them come bursting through the door.

"**SOOOOORRRRRRRRYYYYYYY! Am I late again?" **Bianca replied out of breath.

Hilbert and Sara sweatdropped, and Cheren was just furious.

Bianca had a cute and bubbly appearance. Her bright green eyes shone happily and her short, choppy blonde bangs fell to the side of her face covering her ears, with two pieces of hair sticking up on the left and right side of her head, topping it off with a poofy green beret. Her clothing was colorful, wearing a poofy white short sleeved shirt with a bright, orange vest on top, a long white skirt that hit right below her knees, orange tights, yellow flats, and a white bracelet.

"Bianca..." Cheren said, trying to keep his cool as he put his hand on her shoulder. "I know that for all the ten years I've known you that you've had absolutely NO sense of time whatsoever, but come on. Today's an important day. The day that marks us becoming Pokémon trainers and going off into the world."

"S-Sorry Cheren" She said and smiled her cute, bubbly smile. "I had to convince my dad that I was just going to Sara's house."

This was one of those once in a month days were Bianca was determined to do whatever she needed to do.

Cheren's face turned red in admiration, surprised that Bianca can act this determined. Everyone else except Hilbert thought it was because of his attempt of trying to be patient.

"Come here Bianca" Sara made a motion for Bianca to come over and she stood close next to Cheren and squeezed his arm tight. Cheren's face turned bright red at the action. Hilbert started laughing to himself as Sara found and envelope attached to the package.

"I'm so excited but nervous at the same time." she whispered to Cheren. Cheren just looked at his feet, still red.

"Oh you guys! It's a note from Prof. Juniper!" she said and then started to read it out loud.

_Sara,_

_I hope that you and you're friends will appreciate this opportunity; to go out into the world on their own and meet many different Pokémon. Even when you're on your journey, I hope you'll always remember this day as the one where you first go your Pokémon and set off into the big settle your choices maturely and orderly._

_Sincerely,_

_Prof. Juniper_

"Sara! You should pick you're Pokémon first! After all, the package did come to _your_ house." Bianca beamed.

"Sounds fair enough" Cheren replied.

"OK!" Sara said and smiled. She unwraps the box to find three black and red poke balls. "Uh- Oh…"

"What's wrong?" Bianca asked. "Well… there's only three poke balls… there's four of us…"Sara said sadly.

"You didn't know that?" Cheren replied knowingly.

"NO CHEREN, NOBODY DOES!" everybody yelled

There was silence.

Hilbert broke the silence."I still have my Pikachu from Kanto… He can be my starter."

That's right! Bianca and Cheren were the only ones who had lived in Unova their whole life. Hilbert came from Hoenn, same as Sara.

"Really? Thanks, Hilbert!" Sara beamed. That's all he needed; her smile.

Sara let all the Pokémon out of their poke balls.

Cheren held a small booklet which described all the Pokémon. The one on the left was Snivy, the grass snake Pokémon, known for its high speed and defense later on. It crossed its arms and tapped his foot impatiently. Everyone looked at Cheren when Snivy did this and burst out laughing. In the middle, was Oshawott, the water sea otter Pokémon. It looked up with adorable, pleading twinkling blue eyes that was pretty well-rounded in all the categories. On the right hand side was Tepig, the fire pig Pokémon. Its main stats were in its attack. It squealed as it randomly ran around in circles.

"This is a big decision…" Sara said. Let's see… she liked all of them. So she tried to pick one that reminded her of her past…back in Hoenn. She remembered playing with her friends on the beach, tackling the waves, boogie-boarding, diving, and sometimes if she was lucky enough, her Mom would take her to go on a submarine ride. She knew which one she had to pick.

"I choose Oshawott" she said firmly. "Osha Oshawott!" it squealed in reply. Sara picked it up and cradled it in her arms.

"Oh my gosh! Tepig is sooo KAWAII! Bianca squealed as she scooped up Tepig. "Te-pig!" it moaned, clearly annoyed by Bianca's high pitched voice.

"Hey! Why do you get to pick before me?" Cheren complained. "Oh well, Snivy was the one I wanted anyways..." Snivy ran up onto Cheren's shoulder and remained quiet.

Bianca suddenly jumped up "OH I know!" she beamed as she ran towards Sara. "Sara, please battle me!" Bianca pleaded.

"What already umm… OK!" They both struck their new trainer poses and got ready to battle.

"Go! Oshawott!" "Come on out Tepig!" Sadly, the Pokémon only knew two moves… tackle and tail whip.

Neither of them had battled before they were new at this, so they just used the two moves they had.

Randomly.

Both the Pokémon were getting tired. " Oshawott! Finish it off with tackle!"

Oshawott lurched forward and with that tackle, tepig had fainted.

"Wow… Sara you're going to be a really strong trainer some day! I know it!"Bianca said as she smiled.

"Really? Thanks." Sara was surprised to hear that. She was surprised to have such good friends.

Cheren got into his annoyed pose again: crossed arms tapping his foot impatiently. "Bianca." Cheren said, trying to work on his temper.

"Yes?" Bianca asked innocently. "would you take a look around the room and explain to me _what_ happened?

"Oh sure Cher…" she stopped short in shock of what had happened. Sara was frozen.

Sara's room looked as if there had been an earthquake, tornado, flood, and hurricane, all at the same time.

"WHOA! WHAT HAPPENED IN HERE? POKEMON ARE SO LITTLE YET SO STRONG HUH?" Bianca remarked.

"Well…Good luck cleaning this up Sara" Hilbert mocked. Sara dropped to her knees. "Wha-wha…."

Cheren laid his hand on Bianca's shoulder. "You, my friend, are completely hopeless…"Cheren said as he sighed.

Bianca shrugged off the stinging remark and said "OH CHEREN YOU SHOULD BATTLE SARA! SHE'S SUPER STRONG SO BE CAREFUL."

"… That's actually a good idea Bianca. Besides, it wouldn't be fair if you two were the only ones to have fun."Cheren said, finally calming down.

"Bianca, I think you just had your first good idea! Kind of like a tournament except a mini-version." Hilbert exclaimed.

"I think Bianca has had other good ideas before! I mean there was that time when…" Sara was cut off by Hilbert and Cheren giving her a look that said _"Really?"_

"…Yeah this is Bianca's first good idea"

Cheren healed Sara and Bianca's Pokémon.

"OK Sara get ready to lose!" Cheren said determinedly.

"I don't think so… I have a pretty good strategy in mind." Sara said with a sly smile.

"Go Oshawott!" " I choose you, Snivy!"

Sara told Oshawott to use tail whip every turn, while Cheren used a combination of both.

"I see what she's doing… She's trying to lower my defense! Not going to happen!" Cheren said to himself.

Cheren told Snivy to start using tail whip. "Ha it's working…" Sara thought out loud. "Oshawott use tackle! Oshawott did as told and one-hit KO Cheren's Snivy.

"I know one thing about Cheren" Sara said happily. "Cheren uses strategies, so I knew he would know mine. Once he started to use mine, I could easily take down Snivy."

Hilbert's jaw dropped. "Wait what? I'm confused. All I heard was blah blah blah, Cheren."

"Wow Sara I'm impressed, you are strong!" Cheren finally said, as he healed their Pokémon. Sara smiled

"OK it's my turn now. I'm going to beat Sara, the undefeated trainer in this mini-battle league" Hilbert mocked in a professional voice.

"OH its on!" Sara said determined

"Go Oshawott" "Pikachu GO!"

Out of Hilbert's poke ball came a small electric mouse Pokémon named Pikachu.

"Pikachu are super rare in Unova!" Cheren said amazed. Bianca marveled at the red cheeked Pokémon.

"Thunderbolt" Hilbert said with no emotion apparently bored.

"PIKAAACHUUUUUUU!" Shocking Electric shot from its black tipped ears, brown striped tail, and it's cute red cheeks.

Sara: Wait wait whoa whoa whoa! You really used the word _cute_, in this kind of moment? _Cute?_

Melody: Don't question me remember our conversation earlier? I'M the author. YOU'RE the character.

Sara:… The _main_ character.

Melody: We'll talk later!

Oshawott fainted, one-hit KO, super effective.

Sara rushed toward her Oshawott and kneeled by its side.

"Don't worry Oshawott you did good" she said and returned it to its Poke ball.

Hilbert's eyes widened' shocked that she wasn't complaining that she lost.

"Good match Hilbert" Sara said as she put out her hand for him to shake.

Instead he gave her a sideways hi-five and gave her a knuckle touch. Sara sweatdropped. "You did good too" he replied

"Let's go apologize to your mom about your room" Cheren said as he went downstairs.

"Sorry about your room Sara" Bianca apologized and then ran down the stairs to go apoligize.

"Come on Hilbert, let's go!" Sara said and started to go down the stairs. "Wait! Sara!" Hilbert exclaimed as he grabbed Sara's hand. By instinct.

Hilbert blushed at this action but Sara though nothing of it.

"I Promise, that Sara will become a successful, strong, and kind trainer." Hilbert mocked in a dramatic voice.

Sara laughed "Thanks Hilbert" Sara smiled as she thanked him.

She sprinted down stairs and tripped on her feet and fell. Hilbert was trying not to laugh.

"See, I told you sweetie. Oh about your room, don't worry about it. I'll clean it.

"YES!" Sara jumped up and said happily.

"Pokémon sure are strong beings; I could hear their cries all the way down here! Oh by the way your friends told me to tell you to meet them in front of Prof. Juniper's lab. Oh and take this with you, too. I believe all of your friends have one." Sara's mom had handed her an 'X-Transceiver'. Sara could communicate with all her friends if she wanted too!

"Ok thanks mom! See you!" She hugged her mom and ran out the door.

"You run pretty fast for a girl" Hilbert said out of breath. "Yeah, thanks." She replied

Cheren was in his impatient pose. "Bianca said she was going to her house, but she's taking a while. Can you go check on her?"

"Yeah sure be right back." She said and sprinted off.

"Dude you totally like her. It's pretty obvious. Why don't you just tell her already?" Cheren said and nudged him.

"SHUT UP ALREADY! STOP BUGGING ME ABOUT IT." Hilbert yelled.

"Ahhh so you do like her? Ok… I'll keep that in mind" Cheren said cleverly.

"Dammit Cheren, what about you and _Bianca_. When are _you_ going to confess?

Cheren looked down at his feet. "I don't know"

Sara headed over to Bianca's house and found the door left ajar.

Sara sweatdropped. "Just like Bianca to leave a door wide open." She thought to herself.

"NO, NO A THOUSAND TIMES NO!" a voice boomed. Sara peeked inside only to see Bianca's dad yelling at Bianca.

"B-but Dad please! I have a Pokemon, and I'm really strong! I'll have my friends and my Pokémon with me!" Bianca pleaded.

"Absolutely NOT! NOT WITH ALL THE WEIRD PEOPLE OUT HERE!" her dad yelled and walked away.

"But Dad!" Bianca cried. Her shining emerald eyes started welling up with tears.

Bianca walked towards Sara. "Oh. Sara, you saw that." Bianca said gloomily and pulled her hat down. Tears started streaming down her rosy cheeks.

"Bianca it's OK. Your friends are here with you."Sara walked towards Bianca and tried to hug her.

"No. Sara It's fine" she said as she avoided Sara's attempt to hug her. "Bianca…" Sara said again.

"Sara, don't worry about me! I'm fine." Bianca said as she forced a smile. Bianca pulled down her hat and started running towards the Professor's lab.

"Hey guys. Oh your Pokémon? They seem to have bonded with you. That's good!" Prof. Juniper said as she smiled happily in front of Hilbert, Sara, Cheren, and Bianca.

"Yeah! We had a mini Tournament!" Bianca explained.

"Oh you had them battle each other?"

"Oh was it wrong? I'm so sorry!" Sara apologized and bowed.

"No, don't apologize. That was good because, now they got stronger and are friendlier towards you." Prof. Juniper giggled at Sara's politeness.

"Really? Sweet!"Hilbert punched his fist in the air.

"The reason I entrusted you kids with Pokémon is so you could fill up the.."

"Pokedex!" Cheren filled in. "Very impressive Cheren!" Prof. Juniper remarked. "Pokedex? What's that?" Bianca asked confusingly.

"The Pokedex is a technical device used to record different Pokémon that you find on your journey so you can find all the Pokémon in the Unova region" Cheren recited.

Bianca was trying to take notes, Sara's jaw dropped, and Hilbert just sighed.

"CHEREN! I know that you want to show off, but come on seriously, this is a serious moment!"Prof. Juniper was losing her cool. "So, like Cheren just explained, in order to find all of the Pokémon in the Unova region, you must travel the entire Unova region. You can even challenge the gym leaders and obtain gym badges if you want. You'll all run into each other every now and then and when you do, that would be a good opportunity to battle each other."

Once Prof. Juniper finished her lecture, we all thanked her and walked outside. "Good Luck!" She called after us.

"Sara!"Everyone turned around to see Sara's mom walking over here. "Mom, what are you doing here?" Sara asked. "Oh I just wanted to give you and your friends something."Sara's mom handed everyone a town map of the Unova region. "Now, you'll always know where to go and where you are. Sara, be careful honey, I love you." "Love you too mom." Sara said and hugged her mom.

Once Sara's mom had walked away, everyone started walking to Route 1.

"Sooo… I-I guess since the Prof. said we could go on our journey its o.k., right?" Bianca asked with worry in her voice.

"Of course." Cheren replied. Sara looked at Bianca worryingly. She put her arm around Bianca.

Bianca jumped up. "OOOO! I have an idea! Why don't we all take our first step together! And just to make sure…" she grabbed Cheren's hand and raised it up "Let's all hold hands!"

Cheren held Bianca's hand, Bianca held Sara's hand, and Sara held Hilbert's hand.

This was just the beginning of their life-changing journey.

Melody: Phew done! Sorry I took a while, I have to pack for camp, and then I had to do my chores and then…

Sara: That's your excuse?

Melody:… You're still made about that name thing huh?

Sara: *nods*

Melody: I TOLD YOU THAT WE'LL TALK LATER!

Sara: *rolls eyes*

Melody: Thank you for your advice everyone and I'll try to stay more focused.

Sara: Everyone? You only got _one_ review so far.

Melody: *glares at Sara*

Sara: I'll leave now…

Melody: Yeah you better. Anyways, I'm new at being an author so sorry if this was _really_ crappy.

Please Review! (Nicely!) =3


	2. Team Plasma, N, and a Menger Sponge

Melody: UGGHHH I'M SO TIERD I'M STILL PACKING FROM CAMP, THEN I HAD TO GO TO MY VOLUNTARY JOB FOR TWO HOURS AND I STILL HAVE TO WRITE THIS STORY!... I'm sorry what was your question?

Hilbert:…Ummmm…have you seen Sara?

"…"

Bianca: Oh she's in her room!

Cheren: Still pouting about her name…

Melody: WHEN WILL SHE GET OVER IT? UGHHH STUPID SARA!

*silence*

Melody:…Hope you like my stories…

Disclaimer: Yeah I forgot to do this in the last chapter, but Melody does not own Pokémon.

Everyone:*Gasps* YOU FORGOT TO DO YOUR JOB?

Disclaimer: Yeah I hate it anyways…I don't even get a name…

Hilbert: Oh no, not this again…

Sara, Hilbert, Bianca, and Cheren were starting their Pokémon journey when…

"YAY! WE DID IT I TOLD YOU IT WOULD BE FUN!" Bianca beamed as she smiled cheerfully.

"Wow cool…so this is Route 1? Looks pretty simple. Just one simple path straight ahead." Sara said.

"Well, you _WERE_ the star athlete at the Trainer School, and on top of that, you were the top hiker back in Hoenn." Hilbert retorted, slightly jealous. "By the way, how do you catch Pokémon?" I don't remember the Prof. explaining that."

"HA! SOMETHING THAT THE PROF. FORGOT!" Cheren exclaimed. Everyone sweatdropped.

"Ok I'll demonstrate! It's actually quite simple. Let's see…" A few feet away, Cheren saw a Purrlion, wandering around aimlessly.

Cheren pulled out a poke ball. "I choose you, Snivy!" Cheren threw his poke ball forward and out came

the tiny grass snake Pokémon, Snivy. "First, you have must reduce the wild Pokemon's HP; HP stands for 'Hit Points'."

"Just how do you do that? Nicely ask the Pokémon in an orderly fashion?" Bianca asked clearly confused.

Cheren ignored Bianca's obviously stupid question. "Snivy use tackle!" The tiny Pokémon lurched forward and tackled the purple cat Pokémon. Purrlion flew back and scratched Snivy.

"You keep lowering the foe's HP until it's very low, or the Pokémon fainted."Cheren demonstrated by using tackle again on the Purrlion. Purrlion had not fainted yet, but it was very weak. "Then-

"Yeah yeah, you throw the poke ball wait 'till it rocks three times and then once you hear it click you've successfully caught the Pokémon." Sara put up three fingers to gesture that the poke ball had to rock three times. "Cheren, I know you're smart, but not all of us are idiots."

Cheren still threw the poke ball to demonstrate and caught the Purrlion.

"Well…maybe one of us is a _little_ off now and then." Hilbert replied trying to sugar-coat the word 'little'.

Everyone looked at Bianca.

Bianca was trying to register "How to catch a Pokémon".

"Sounds a bit hard, but I guess I could try…"she mumbled to herself. "Oh by the way, I heard you guys talking about a clueless idiot. _I_ don't even know who this person is, but it's kind of mean to talk like that behind someone's back." She said, lecturing them.

Everyone fell anime style as Bianca looked at them, confused.

"Of course you don't, Bianca."

As they stood back up, a question was bugging Sara.

"Something wrong, Sara?"Cheren asked confused.

Sara looked at the floor, her hat covering her eyes. "I just realized this now, but is the pokedex just a tool for trainer's to use to their convenience? Are people catching Pokémon just so they could fill up the pokedex?"

"Well, I don't know about other people, but I would like to catch Pokémon to befriend them."Cheren replied.

"What about the Pokémon? How do they feel? The whole idea to catch a Pokémon is to weaken it by battling it, but is that really what the Pokémon want? Why do they stay with the trainer?" Sara inquired.

Silence. Everyone pondered the questions that Sara just asked. How _did_ the Pokémon feel?

Bianca, of course, was the first to break the silence. "Oooo! I have _another_ great idea! How about we have a contest to see who can catch the most Pokémon! And whoever has the most Pokémon including their starting Pokémon wins!" She exclaimed and jumped up.

Each trainer, Cheren, Hilbert, and Sara, each had something to say: "Wow Bianca, you're on fire today!"

"Bianca, you're having a _really_ good day today!" "Another great idea, Bianca."

"Ok three…two…one…GO!" Bianca punched her fist in the air and ran off. Cheren looked around and started to jog to a certain area.

Sara started to walk away but Hilbert grabbed her shoulder before she did.

"Hey, what do you need?" Sara asked as she put on a fake smile. "You ok?" Hilbert asked worryingly.

"Oh yeah I'm fine." She said as she waved both of her hands in front of her. "No worries. Well, got to go catch some Pokémon now!"She said quickly and ran off to a certain spot.

There was a little river off to the side of Route 1 where Sara sat, wondering about her question. She took out her poke ball which contained Oshawott. A little blue sea otter popped out, looking at Sara with shining eyes.

"Well, what do you think Oshawott? Should I quit being a trainer? I don't know how I feel right now."

"Osha-wott" it said sympathetically.

"You know I can't understand you, right? I wish I could though…"She trailed off.

"OSHA"-a jet of water sprayed out of Oshawott's mouth directly at Sara. Sara shrieked "Oshawott! What was that for?"

Oshawott just smiled and looked up with pleading eyes. Sara started to giggle. She picked up Oshawott and hugged him.

"Thanks little guy."She whispered gratefully. She sat there for a few minutes, looking out onto the shining river.

"OH SHOOT! THAT CONTEST! I DON'THAVE TIMETO CATCH ANY POKEMON! COME ON, OSHAWOTT!"

Sara and Oshawott started sprinting to the end of Route 1.

"YAY WE'RE ALL HERE! Wait where's Sara?"

"…"

"Sorry guys!" she said out of breath.

"Why are you all wet?" Cheren said, looking at her shirt.

Sara looked down at her shirt and blushed _'How embarrassing! '_she thought. "Oshawott learned water gun."She retorted quickly.

"Ah, the only move it learns until it evolves into Dewott, when it learns razor shell."Cheren bragged, pushing up his glasses from the rim of his nose.

"Well then, THANK YOU for spoiling it Mr._ Killjoy." _Sara stated back.

They were both glaring at each other. Hilbert sweatdropped.

"OK THEN… I have two Pokémon! My Tepig…_"_she said as she gestured towards the small red piggy Pokémon "…and a Lillipup that I nicknamed Lilly! Isn't she _sooooo_ cute?" Bianca said girly as she pet a tiny, petite brown dog that barked happily.

Everyone took out their pokedexes, ready to scan the Pokémon.

"Ok I have my Pikachu and a Patrat." He said pointing to the two mouse Pokemon. Patrat was more like a rat mixed with a raccoon because it had red marks around its eyes.

"What about _you_ Sara?" Cheren asked defiantly. "How many Pokémon did _you_ catch?" Apparently, Sara and Cheren were still glaring at each other.

"Well. You know what? I just have Oshawott. That's right. Juuusssst _Oshawott._" Sara said trying to annoy Cheren.

Hilbert and Bianca gasped.

"WHAT WERE YOU DOING THIS WHOLE TIME?"Hilbert asked shocked.

"I-I was training Oshawott…but the wild Pokémon kept umm… RUNNING AWAY!"She covered up hastily, still glaring at Cheren.

"Right; and I caught a purple Reshiram who can transform into anything he wants and he can also sing ALL of the '_Shugo Chara' _theme _songs_!"Hilbert mocked sarcastically. "Sara, you're a horrible liar." Sara froze.

"Now now Hilbert, don't go blaming Sara. She's probably just stuttering 'cuz she got wet and she's cold. Bianca scolded. "By the way, where'd you catch the Reshiram?" Hilbert fell anime style. "Oh Cheren! How many Pokémon did you catch?" 'Scatterbrained as usual' Hilbert thought

"Yeah Cheren, how many Pokémon did _you_ catch?" Sara retorted.

"_Three._ Yes, and just in case you can't do the math, that's _four _in all." Cheren bragged. "Whoa" everyone murmured.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU NEED TO CATCH THAT MANY?"Sara yelled, devastated that she lost.

"I agree with Sara on this one."Hilbert stated.

"Of course you do."Cheren said defiantly to Hilbert as Hilbert went red. "Well, I caught I Lillipup, a Patrat, and a Purrlion. I will determine which one is strongest and keep them on my team!" Cheren bragged cleverly.

"…"

"Looks like Cheren wins…"Bianca said plainly.

"Ok I'm just going to walk on ahead to Accumula Town."Hilbert said and started walking away.

"Yeah, me too I'm out PEACE!"She replied and gave one last glare at Cheren.

"Cheren. You have to stop competing with everyone. I mean, competition's good once in a while, but you're always competing with everyone. Why?"

Cheren just stood there, looking at his feet. 'I wish I could just tell her…but since I can't, I'm trying to impress her.' He thought to himself.

Cheren had turned slightly red. Bianca saw this.

"Oh sorry Cheren! It's really warm out here! Let's go to Accumula town." Bianca said apologetically.

Accumula town was a tiny little town with some apartment buildings and a grassy area with benches where some strange people in medieval costumes were setting up banners with an insignia that was a badge with a 'P" in the middle and a 'z' behind it. Everyone else on that grassy area was dressed as a knight, but an older man caught her attention. He had pale, green hair and a weird, red object covered his left eye and he was dressed in a special robe. Sara dared to go up and speak to him.

"Ummm excuse me? Are you guys doing some kind of _Shakespeare _play, because I do _not_ remember these characters."She asked curiously. The older man just glared at her with piercing eyes as if he were looking into her soul._ "_Oh I get it! It's a surprise! Don't want to spoil i- mmrph!"Hilbert covered her mouth abruptly and pulled her away.

"Why'd you do that?" She asked. "Something's up. There not just any street performers." Hilbert replied suspicioucly.

Once everyone arrived at Accumula town, Prof. Juniper came out of the Pokémon Center to greet them.

"HOW'D YOU GET HERE BEFORE US?" Sara asked startled. Prof. Juniper sweatdropped.

"Well, while you guys were playing your catching game-

'Oh… how embarrassing… she probably saw that whole feud.' she thought to herself and turned pink.

"Come on Sara, don't you want to see the Pokémon Center?" Hilbert asked. Sara looked up at him and ran ahead.

"This is the Pokémon Center. Don't you feel better as soon as you walk in?" Prof. Juniper asked happily.

"Wow!" "YEAH!" "What a reassuring feeling." "Sweet..."

"You can heal your Pokémon over there," she said and pointed straight ahead where a cheery nurse with pink hair stood. "And you can buy stuff over there!" she said and pointed to a booth where two employees stood. "Oh, and one more thing, once you reach Striaton city, visit my friend, Fennel she said as she ran out the door.

"Ooooh!" Bianca squealed. She ran over to heal her Pokémon then ran over to the shop.

"Of course." Cheren replied.

"Sara! I'm going to buy a few poke balls and potions!" Bianca stated. "Another idea?" Sara stated shocked.

Cheren and Hilbert had already walked out the door of the Pokémon Center when Bianca was about to leave.

"Wait! Bianca!"Sara called out. Bianca turned around and smiled happily. "Yes?" she asked.

"You've always been like a mom to me, Hilbert, and Cheren. That is, until you and Cheren start fighting and then I have to step in- ANYWAYS, that's not my point, but you've also been like a best friend to me so I got something you to say thank-you." Sara pulled two bracelets out of the bag, they were silver chains with a poke ball charm on it that said 'Bff'. Sara handed one to Bianca.

"I know it's pretty 'kiddish' but-' she got interrupted by Bianca hugging her. "Thanks Sara! It's soo cute!"

Sara and Bianca both came out of the Pokémon Center when they saw a huge crowd around the 'grassy area'. "Oh, Dad! Something's going on at the plaza! There's a creepy bad guy with a bunch of knights! Come on Daddy let's goo! The boy said tugging onto the dad's shirt.

Bianca and Sara gave each other concerned looks.

"Oh! It's just this _Shakespeare_ play at the plaza. Want to watch?"Sara asked. "Sure, sounds like fun!" Bianca replied.

Cheren and Hilbert called Sara and Bianca over. "You guys, check this out!" Cheren yelled.

"Yes! Front row seats " Bianca beamed and looked happily at Sara.

"WHOOOOOOOOOOO GO _SHAKESPEARE!"_ Sara yelled a _little_ too loud. Everyone looked at her.

"Sara, you said that a _little_ too loud." Hilbert whispered.

"Oh sorry! It must not be _Shakespeare_! Maybe some other play." Sara corrected herself.

Everyone turned back to their original positions except that creepy old guy who kept glaring daggers at Sara.

'_That girl… how dare she insult Team Plasma…stupid girl.'_ He thought to himself.

There was another person staring at Sara. He was a young man, probably 18 or 19. His pale green eyes were glued to her. 'She's kind of cute…' he thought to himself.

"Ooooh! The plays starting!" Sara squealed happily.

_"My name is Ghetsis. I am here representing Team Plasma. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation._

"Liberation?" "Team Plasma?" Different people murmured things like this.

"HUH? WHAT IS THIS? THIS ISN'T _SHAKESPEARE _OR ANY OTHER PLAY!" Sara yelled, again to loud.

Everyone looked at her again. Ghestis, the creepy old guy, immediately glared at Sara. He was the first one to suspect her. "Too loud again..." Hilbert whispered. Cheren rolled his eyes and Bianca giggled. Sara's face turned crimson red. "Ya think I didn't notice?" Sara replied. "Sorry, Mr. Ghestis Sir…." She apologized, embarrassed. Ghestis ignored her.

"…_As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted…" _He took a deep breath trying not to lose his patience "_I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation._"_I'm sure most of you believe that we humans and Pokémon are partners that have come to live together because we want and need each other. However... Is that really the truth? Have you ever considered that perhaps we humans... only assume that this is the truth? _Ghestis kept an eye on Sara from the corner of his eye.

Cheren, Bianca and Hilbert all looked at Sara. Sara sweatdropped and rubbed the back of her head.

Everyone in the crowd murmured "Of course we're partners" "Pokémon and people need each other" "It _is_ true, right?"

"Does that answer your question?" Cheren whispered to Sara. Sara nodded "Sort of."

_"Pokémon are subject to the selfish commands of Trainers... They get pushed around when they are our "partners" at work... Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I'm saying?_

_"Now, ladies and gentlemen, Pokémon are different from humans. They are living beings that contain unknown potential. They are living beings from whom we humans have much to learn. Tell me, what is our responsibility toward these wonderful beings called Pokémon?"_

"Liberation?" "No way! I'll be too lonely without Pokémon!"

_"That's right! We must liberate the Pokémon! Then, and only then, will humans and Pokémon truly be equals. Everyone, I end my words here today by imploring you to consider the relationship between people and Pokémon... and the correct way to proceed. We sincerely appreciate your attention."_

"Wait! Mr. Ghestis sir!" Sara called out. Hilbert covered her mouth. "What are you doing? Are you CRAZY?" Cheren hissed. "Wait, Sara might have an important question."Bianca argued.

Sara stepped on Hilbert's foot. "OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" he hissed. Team Plasma started packing up their banners and going into rank.

"Mr. Ghestis sir!"Sara called out. Once again, everyone's eyes were on her. Ghestis just kept walking and ignored her. "Don't Pokémon need each other? The bond between Pokémon and humans…They both help each other…I don't quite understand what you're saying. Me and my Pokémon, Oshawott; I don't just use him for battle or, in your case, for my own selfishness. He's also my friend… He cheers me up; our bond's just like any bond between any two humans. Why would you want to separate us?" Sara inquired, with no fear in her voice. As if on cue, Oshawott jumped out of Sara's poke ball. "Osha-wott!" it squeaked and smiled. Everyone turned to Ghestis.

Ghestis stopped in his tracks. He didn't turn around; he just stood still. Then, after a moment, he just kept walking.

Everyone had left the plaza. "Wow Sara! You stood up for what you believed in! You didn't even back down! You're sooo brave! Kind of like… A hero!"Bianca said admiringly and jumped up.

"Yeah Sara that was pretty tight." Hilbert admitted and gave Sara a high-five.

"What a weird proposition… why would anyone want to separate Pokémon and humans?"Cheren pondered.

"Osha-Oshawott!" "Don't worry Oshawott, I won't let anyone separate people and Pokémon."

Sara promised, patting Oshawott's head.

The same young man that was staring at Sara looked over. His eyes widened, in shock.

He walked over to the Sara. "You're Pokémon…just now it was saying…"

Sara looked up as all her friends turned around.

The tall, handsome young man had long, tea green hair tied into a ponytail with a black and white cap on, a crooked smile on his face, and mysterious green eyes. They weren't colorful and bright like Bianca's; they were pale and almost colorless. He wore a black turtleneck underneath his white, collared jacket. He wore beige jeans, and green slip-on _vans_. Around his neck, he had some kind of strange stone that locked like a sideways UFO, and he had golden bracelets on his right wrist and a leather one with silver studs on his left. What really caught Sara's attention was a cube hanging off his belt loop.

Sara froze, staring up at his eyes she started to blush. She stood up quickly trying to cover it. Hilbert was the first one to notice.

"Huh?" Bianca asked. "Slow down, you talk too fast." Cheren stated. "And what's this about Pokémon talking? That's an odd thing to say."

"Yes, they're talking." He stated. Everyone stared at him, confused. "Oh. Then, you guys can't hear it either…How sad. My name is N."

"N? What a peculiar name." Cheren pondered the name. "I-I'm sorry d-don't mind him. I-I'm Sara, and these are my friends, Bianca, Cheren, and Hilbert." Sara stammered, still blushing.

Bianca waved happily, Cheren just stood there, and Hilbert nodded without smiling.

"Nice too meet you all." He replied

"Nice to meet you too, N." Sara smiled and put out her hand to shake.

N was about to shake her hand when Hilbert stepped in between them. "Hey bro, wassup?" Hilbert said casually and did his sideways-high five knuckle touch thingy. N sweatdropped.

"Hilbert, I know you want to meet N too, but can't it wait?" Bianca scolded.

"Me and my friends are out to explore all of Unova to complete the pokedex."Hilbert stated.

"The pokedex, eh? So… you're going to confine many, many, Pokémon in poke balls for that, then. I'm a trainer too, but I can't help but wondering…Are Pokémon really happy that way?" He confronted.

Sara's eyes widened as she looked into N's almost gray eyes. "SARA FELT THE SAME WAY!" Bianca beamed. "SHE WAS REALLY WORRIED AND SHE WAS REALLY SAD! I hope she feels better now…" Bianca said worriedly.

"I'm right here, you know that right?" Sara said sarcastically.

Hilbert got furious. "BIANCA WILL YOU PUT A SOCK IN IT?" Hilbert yelled.

"Hilbert, Bianca didn't say anything bad." Cheren said slyly, giving away Hilbert and defending Bianca at the same time.

Hilbert grimaced and cursed under his breath.

N moved around Hilbert and walked towards Sara who was staring at the floor and blushing. N thought it was because she felt the same way he did; frustrated about Pokémon.

"Well then, Sara was it?"N asked hovering over her. "Yeah." Sara muttered shyly, still looking at the floor.

N gently grabbed her chin and pulled it up, so his eyes were looking into her's. Hilbert's eyes popped out of his eyes. It took all of Cheren's energy to cover Hilbert's mouth and hold him back. Bianca just looked at N and Sara obviously amused.

"Look, Sara I know how you feel about Pokémon." N said sympathetically.

"Wha- oh yeah…" Sara lied. For some reason, she actually liked him being so close, but at the same time she felt awkward.

"That's why I went on this journey. I wanted to see if my ideals were strong enough. I felt like you did. You'll be all right."N assured her.

Sara's eyes got watery, she wasn't faking. It was because a random stranger was being so nice to her. A tear started to roll down her cheek.

N wiped off her tear, which made Hilbert even more furious. 'Why isn't Sara punching him like she usually would if some random guy did that to her?' he thought to himself.

"Well then… Will you have a Pokémon battle with me Sara? I want to hear your Pokémon's voice again." N challenged, releasing his gentle grasp of her chin.

"OOOH N BE CAREFUL BECAUSE SARA'S _REALLY_ STRONG!" Bianca told N.

Sara sweatdropped. "I'm not really that strong…Am I?" Cheren, Hilbert and Bianca all raised the eyebrows as if she didn't know who the champion was.

N threw his poke ball out without saying a word. He sent out a Purrlion, the purple cat that Cheren first caught. "GO, Oshawott!" She did her pose then threw her poke ball. Oshawott looked determined.

"Purrlion, use scratch!" "Oshawott! Water gun!"They both said at the same time.

N's Purrlion was the first one to move. "Oshawott, be careful! His Purrlion is fast!" "Osha!" Oshawott squealed as he used water gun.

"More! Let me hear the voice of your Pokémon!"N said defiantly

The Pokémon were working their hardest. Bianca sat there entertained, while Hilbert kept trying to squirm out of Cheren's hold. It was hard for Sara, because N's Purrlion kept using growl.

"Oshawott! Finish it with tackle!" N's Purrlion couldn't even avoid the takle. Purrlion fainted.

"I never expected a Pokémon to say such things…" N said shocked as he handed700.

"Oh Cheren, Bianca, you owe me some MULA!" Sara bragged and punched her fist in the air. The sun was setting, and starting shining on Sara's golden brown hair.

"As long as Pokémon are confined in poke balls…Pokémon will never become perfect beings. I have to change the world for Pokémon, because they're my friends. At least, that's how I feel. Until we meet again." He tells us and walks away.

Everyone started walking to the Pokémon Center. That is, except Sara. She just stood there, looking off into the distance until N was out of sight.

Since Sara had the most Poke Dollars, she rented a room in a hotel for them. They had all gotten some magazines, Cheren on chemistry, Sara on Pokémon, Hilbert on Pokémon training, and Bianca got one of her teen magazines. There were two bunk beds, one bed for each of them.

"Hey Cheren?" Sara had been asking a bunch of questions lately ever since that encounter with the mysterious N.

"What is it now Sara?" Cheren sighed getting impatient.

"What was that cube hanging off of N's belt loop?" She asked curiously. 'N, you're so mysterious…who _are_ you…' she thought to herself curiously. Her face turned red thinking about him.

"UGH ENOUGH ABOUT N!"Hilbert yelled "'OH, HOW TALL DO YOU THINK N IS, LIKE 6 FOOT? WHAT KIND OF STONE WAS THAT AROUND HIS NECK? OH; HOW OLD DO YOU THINK N IS?'"Hilbert mocked annoyed.

"Shhh! Hilbert! You're going to wake everyone up! It's OK for Sara to wonder about N; they have a lot in common. Plus, I'm _trying_ to read here."Bianca scolded bossily.

'Me and N…Have a lot in common?' Sara asked herself in her mind

"You're not even reading! You're just looking at pictures of random trainers and celebrities!" Hilbert hissed.

"Hilbert? What's gotten into you lately? Ever since you met N you've been acting like this."Sara inquired worryingly.

Cheren gave him the 'look'. "I'm fine. It's just- that N guy's a suspicious character. You shouldn't talk to him." Hilbert raised his voice a little.

"Why do you care? Look, Hilbert, you're acting like my mom. Stop worrying about me! I'm fine; I can take care of myself" Sara retorted.

Silence filled the room.

Cheren was the one to break the silence. "What you saw on N's belt loop was a _Menger Sponge."_Cheren stated.

"_Menger Sponge?_" Bianca asked curiously and yawned. "What's that?"I pressed.

"_Menger Sponge_: A geometric figure that simultaneously has infinite surface area and zero volume."Cheren recited

"Ok cool, now _this _time can you say that again, but in English?" Sara asked having no clue what Cheren was babbling about.

"Simultaneously means at the same time."Cheren stated and yawned. "It 's quite confusing to understand, but if you know the definition of the word volume and understand the phrase infinite surface area then it's a lot easier to understand." Cheren said wearily.

"I think we're all tired, let's go to sleep." Sara suggested. She jumped down from her top bunk to see Bianca sleeping. Her eyelashes curved gently upward as her cheeks still kept that rosy feature.

Hilbert had stayed silent this whole time, still wondering about N. Cheren was taking off his glasses and putting them on the night stand. "Night…"Sara whispered even though none of them .

She turned off the lights and climbed onto her bunk bed.

'A lot happened today…' she thought to herself. 'I got my first Pokémon, battled a lot of people…

I met the mysterious Team Plasma and heard Mr. Ghestis Sir talk about liberating Pokémon-is Mr. Ghestis Sir the leader of Team Plasma? I met N…'she trailed out in thought.

"Osha-wott" the blue sea otter squeaked quietly. Sara hugged Oshawott close to her.

'N…talking to Pokémon? How can you understand them? You're so mysterious and confusing; but, nice all at the same time.' she closed her eyes and started thinking about her encounter with him.

She went over Cheren's words in her mind; '"_Menger Sponge;_ it's quite confusing to understand, but if you know more about it, it's a lot easier to understand."Something along those lines…' Sara pondered over what he said about N's cube. She felt Oshawott's steady breathing.

'It's confusing, but if you get to know it, it's a lot easier to understand…'She started to doze off with one last thought;

'Just like N.'

Melody: I hope this was good enough; I mean, cutewise…I have to go to camp for a week so I won't be writing stories until I get back to camp. And _no_ I will not try to sneak my laptop into camp. Yeah, if I did, I'd be lucky to get out alive.

Please review! =3


	3. Everyone needs some strength

Melody: Hi guys! Thanks for reading about Bianca, the scatter-brained airhead who loves to shop, Cheren, the determined show-off and sometimes killjoy who only focuses on becoming strong, Sara, the tomboyish girl who loves Pokémon and is constantly wondering about stuff, and Hilbert, your ordinary everyday trainer!

Hilbert: HEY!

Sara: Well, she's not lying.

Cheren: Sara, don't add flame to the fire

Bianca: AHHHHH! FIRE? WHERE? WHAT SHOULD I DO AGAIN? OH YEAH, STOP, DROP AND ROLL! SOMEONE CALL THE FBI!

Disclaimer: The FBI? Don't you mean 911? Oh, and by the way, THERE'S NO FIRE!

Everyone: *stares at Disclaimer*

Disclaimer:… Melody doesn't own Pokémon…

'Strength. What is it exactly? I don't know. I just want it. I'll figure out what it is eventually; but I have to do it alone…'

Sara woke up and yawned as she stretched out her arms. It was a new day. She had new places to discover. She looked over to the top bunk across from her. Hilbert was just getting up. She jumped off the bunk to check on Bianca. She was sleeping peacefully.

"Bianca, time to get up. As a Pokémon trainer, you're going to have to start you're day nice and early." Sara said softly, putting her hand on Bianca's shoulder.

"Mmmph…" Bianca mumbled. "Come on Bianca." Sara said sweetly. "Bianca? Bianca." Sara sighed. "I didn't want it to come down to this, but this is my last resort." Oshawott hid under the blankets.

"BIANCA, WAKE UP IT'S TIME TO GO!" Sara yelled impatiently pulling Bianca's sheets from under her. "Waah!" Bianca exclaimed. "Good morning to you too." Hilbert said sarcastically.

"Sara, you could've done it nicely." Bianca whined rubbing her eyes.

"Believe me, she tried." Hilbert stated. "Hey, Cheren you up?"Hilbert inquired. "Cheren?"

Sara turned around to see an empty where Cheren was. "EEEKKKK!" Bianca screamed.

"What now?" Hilbert and Sara both said in unison.

"OH MY ARCEUS! CHEREN MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABDUCTED BY TEAM PLASMA, YOU KNOW, FROM YESTERDAY FOR ALL WE KNOW, AND AND- THEY COULD BE ASKING HIM QUESTIONS ABOUT US RIGHT NOW!" Bianca panicked.

"Or…" Sara said as she sweatdropped. "Cheren could have left earlier."

"What makes you think that?" Bianca asked innocently. Hilbert and Sara fell anime style.

"Because he left a note that says so…" Sara said in an obvious tone and raised her eyebrow.

"Ooooo! What does it say?" Bianca squealed squeezing her pillow and sitting "criss-cross apple sauce".

Sara read it aloud:

_Friends,_

'_I have left to find all the Pokémon in the pokedex and discover Unova alone for my own reasons. Bianca, don't get caught off guard and keep growing stronger. Sara…don't get yourself into too much trouble. Hilbert: don't give yourself away, and don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about, because you know perfectly that I know.'_

_Sincerely,_

_Cheren_

"Awww that was sooo sweet of him to say…" Bianca announced blushing with a dreamy look on her face.

"WELL FOR YOU IT WAS!" Hilbert retorted, his face a deep crimson red.

Sara sweatdropped and rubbed the back of her head. "Well, I guess I can get into trouble every now and then."

Sara remembered all that had happened yesterday. The creepy Team Plasma with their (possibly) leader, that… _Ghestis_ guy. Sara shivered just thinking about him. And then there was… HOW COULD SHE FORGET N? His mysterious green eyes and his somehow attractive crooked smile and…

Sara started smiling and blushing, almost the same way Bianca had. Sara put her hands on her cheeks. She couldn't stop smiling. Hilbert immediately noticed this.

"Sara, you ok?"Hilbert asked looking at her worriedly. "Never better…" She replied dreamily.

"Sara, are you thinking about N?"Bianca recited playfully and winked. Sara froze and snapped out of her fantasy world. Hilbert turned red again and got furious.

"Wha-What makes you think that?" Sara stammered hastily, still blushing.

"No reason!" Bianca beamed cutely.

"I'm going to change so no one come in the bathroom." Sara retorted, still blushing. She grabbed her clothes and walked away.

It was just Hilbert and Bianca. Bianca thought it was going to be the 'most fun time ever!' while Hilbert thought it was going to be torture.

"Ooooo…" Bianca tormented and pointed at Hilbert. "You're _jealousss."_ Bianca teased and giggled.

"AM NOT!" Hilbert retorted his face still crimson red. "ARE TOO!" Bianca teased.

"AM NOT!" "ARE TOO!" "AM NOT!" "ARE TOO!" They kept this going on and on until Hilbert stopped.

Hilbert and Bianca were glaring at each other competitively. "So you ARE jealous."Bianca teased. "I never said that." Hilbert stated. "Just admit it." "Admit what?" "You know what." "No, I won't admit it."

"Ummm are you guys OK?" Sara laughed softly.

Hilbert froze. "Oh yeah, I'm totally fine Sara!" Bianca beamed and jumped up. Hilbert started putting on his jacket and his shoes.

"I'm going to head to Striaton City." Hilbert said putting on his hat. "Well, see you guys around ok?" He rushed out the door.

"Wait Hilbert! You forgot your backpack!"Sara yelled and ran to catch up to Hilbert. "Oh, Yeah thanks" He said and grabbed the bag.

Sara didn't let go. "Hilbert, what's wrong? You've been acting weird ever since yesterday. Are you ok?" She asked her bright blue eyes watering up.

"It's nothing!" Hilbert said grabbing his backpack. He walked downstairs and out of the tiny hotel.

Bianca came out. "Here's your backpack Sara, don't worry because I put Oshawott in there."Bianca smiled. "I'm going to look around Accumula Town before I leave. I'll see you soon!" Bianca waved back at Sara and skipped out the door.

'When did things get so weird and hectic?' Sara thought to herself. A tear rolled down her cheek, except no one was here to wipe it off her cheek.

Sorry guys, I'm going to end it short because I just got back from camp a couple days ago and I'm SUPER tired because I had to pull an all-nighter on the second to last night (long story). I'll try to start writing again soon.


	4. The major fire

Melody: Hey guys! I'm back!

Everyone: MELODY! YOU'RE BACK FROM CAMP AND THIS TIME WE _ACTUALLY _MISSED YOU!

Melody: Ummm, Sara, Bianca and Disclaimer, you saw me last night; remember, '_Pirates of the Caribbean; On Stranger Tides'_?

Cheren: Wait wait wait,why don't I remember this?

Melody: Oh sorry girls night out!

"…"

Hilbert: The Disclaimer's a girl?

Disclaimer: Well, since I _don't_ get a name, (we will not talk about that because a certain person in this room who shall remain unnamed decided that it was _hilarious_ to make fun of me not having a name almost got murdered because of my mad fencing skills) I thought that I could at least get a gender. * glares at Hilbert*

Hilbert: *hides behind Cheren* GET HIM FIRST! HE'S THE SMARTEST ONE HERE!

Disclaimer: The mermaid Serene, and Angelica were sooo beautiful!

Melody: Omg, wasn't Johnny Depp hot?

Disclaimer: Yeah, but I liked the Missionary better.

Bianca: I liked the young pirate, BECAUSE I'M ALSO THE YOUNGEST!

Cheren: *Gasps*

Sara: Well, I think he was only in the beginning of the movie, but like, it was the _young _Spanish prince, not the old guy who kept making weird faces. You know, with the poofy shirt. Yeah, he was cute.

Hilbert: WHO IS THIS GUY? WHERE IS HE? WHAT DID HE DO TO YOU?

Sara: Don't worry Hilbert; it's just a handsome prince in a movie.

Melody: Prince, eh? Heee hee, this should be interesting. *makes mental note to self*

Everyone: "Hmmm?" "What?" "?" "Melody, did you eat breakfast today?" "…"

Melody: N-Nothing! *keeps typing*

Hilbert: Hey Melody! I heard you were Demon bait at camp! That's so awesome dude!

Melody: *Freezes* Awesome? You think it's… _awesome_? *slowly turns around*

Everyone: *thinks her face is scary*HILBERT? WHY DID YOU SAY THAT? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

Melody: _I_ had to be the bait because it looked at_ my_ bunk. I _had_ to go to sleep for the plan. I couldn't go to sleep and at one point I heard a feminine voice inside my head harassing me and saying it was going to posses me. You think that's _awesome?_

Hilbert: I'm sorry! I stand corrected! *bows*

Disclaimer: Gladly, for the world's sake, Melody does not own Pokémon.

"…"

Sara was not having the best day. Cheren who usually gave her advice had left on his own, Bianca who always cheered her up just wanted to look around Accumula town which didn't have anything, and Hilbert was just acting weird. She only had Oshawott with her.

"Oshawott, what's happening?" Sara cried her eyes watery. "Osha…"it responded sympathetically.

She sat there for a few minutes then walked outside of the hotel and heard commotion. _'Oh no, not Team Plasma again'_ she wined to herself inside her head.

Instead, she saw smoke rising from the route that led to from Straiton City. Everyone was running to the Pokémon Center. "Let's go Oshawott!" Sara announced as the ran to the Pokémon Center.

There was a TV turned reporting the news about the fire. The TV reporter had a serious look on his face.

"This young girl was training her Pokémon when suddenly, it's fire attack went out of control, burned a tree and started a chain reaction."

There was a picture of a girl with a big poofy green hat and short choppy blonde hair. Sara looked at it closer. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"No…no it can't be… Bianca?" Sara shrieked. It was Bianca in the picture. She payed attention tosee if there was anything else he had to say:

"Now to the weather, Suzanne." He said with a charming grin.

'That helps to know that Iccirrus City is cold, like always.' Sara retorted in her mind sarcastically.

"You know her?" The cheery pink haired nurse inquired.

"Do I _know_ her? She's my best friend! I have to save her!" Sara retorted and started to run out.

"Wait!" the nurse called and grabbed Sara's wrist. "The reporter says she's trapped! The flames are out of control! If you were something like a Pokémon Ranger I would understand, but you're a novice Pokémon _trainer!_"

Sara stopped and took her wrist out of the nurse's tight grip and stood to her true height, 5' 7".

"Pokémon Ranger, eh?" Sara said with eyes that shined of determination. She remembered that just yesterday she had been watching her favorite anime and TV series: _Pokémon Rangers: SOA_ "I can do that, I used to watch Pokémon Ranger shows all the time before I left on my journey." She said and smiled.

"You mean that shoujo cartoon for girls? I can't let you do it, it's too risky." The nursed scolded and raised an eyebrow.

Sara struck a ranger pose that she had been practicing for Halloween.

"Believe me; if it's for my friend, I can do it." She announced and winked.

"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you." The nurse gave up and sighed smoothing out her short frilly pink uniform.

"Thank you!" Sara replied and bowed of respect and then ran out. 'Hang in there Bianca, you'll be ok.' Sara assured herself.

Bianca's POV

"Tepig, use ember!" I yelled and pointed to the foe's Lillipup; which looked a lot like mine, except that mine was much cuter.

The Lillipup dodged it, causing the flame to hit a tree. The tree burst up in flares and the flames caught on to another tree, and then another, and then another. It was a chain reaction. I tried to run, but a tree trunk that was caught up in flames fell in front of me. I tried to turn around, but I was cornered into more trees on fire. I was trapped.

"EEEK! HELP! CHEREN! SOMEONE!" I screamed. It was hopeless. Everyone in the forest ran away.

At least the trees behind me aren't burning up _that_ much, yet. I let out my Pokémon. They're always there for me when I need them.

"Tepig, Lillipup, I don't think I can get out. I love you guys." I announced and hugged the Pokémon. I don't know what I can do. I closed my eyes and hugged my Pokémon.

Suddenly, I felt arms wrap around me. I tried to look back but the grip was tight. I don't even know how this person could've gotten in here.

The person picked me up bridal style which was when I could finally get a glimpse of the person's face.

He was a boy with a young appearance, about my age which is fifteen. I could only tell because of his fiery red eyes and stature since the rest of his face was covered by a black mask. He had spiky white hair and wore black ninja-like clothing. I found him somewhat handsome and noticed myself blushing.

"…You're ok…" He assured in his somehow youthful but serious voice. That's when things started getting weird. I found myself closing my eyes as I felt a cold rushing wind blow by me. I dared to open my eyes; I couldn't believe it. I found myself in Accumula town. The shady figure set me down as I set my Pokémon down. I turned around to look at him. He was a few inches taller than me, and I found myself staring into his bright red eyes. He held my hands for a little longer then whispered in my ear "You be careful ok?"

My eyes started getting watery. This…stranger… was being so kind to me. "I-I don't know how to thank you enough." was all I could stammer.

"Don't mention it." He replied and disappeared into thin air. I stood there shocked with my Pokémon beside me.

'_Who was he? He's sooo mysterious and cute, but I don't even know his name. But, he was so kind to me. And how could he disappear?' _I pondered these questions to myself.

"Now I know how Sara felt…with N." Bianca whispered quietly to herself.

Sara's__ POV

I sprinted towards the small route. All the Pokémon and trainer's were either safely at Straiton City or Accumula town. Flames rushed towards my face at each of my clumsy attempts to dodge them.

"BIANCA! WHERE ARE YOU?"I yelled at the top of my lungs. I thought I could hear a scream and soft sobbing.

"Bianca!" I exclaimed in relief and ran towards the voice. What I saw shocked me.

I saw a boy dressed as a ninja; possibly for a cosplay convention? Oh well. He was Bianca's age and about my height. What's even more, he had Bianca in his arms! Save your L.A.R.P.-ing for someone else!

'He better not be trying to kidnap Bianca.' I threatened in my mind. I started to run over, but then I saw him disappear._ What? Did he just…disappear? Haven't enough strange things happened?_

"BIANCA!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. It was no use. She had disappeared. Sadly, I couldn't worry about her know. I had to put out the fire.

Luckily, I had chosen Oshawott as my starter Pokémon. As released my adorable sea otter Pokémon, it understood what was happening. I didn't even need to explain to it what was going on. It started spraying the trees with its water gun attack.

"Good job, Oshawott."I encouraged. I looked behind me towards Straiton City and my face turned pale.

Not all the Pokémon were safe.

There were some Volcarona migrating and laying their eggs. I quickly scanned the beautifully rare Pokémon with my pokedex. They're fire Pokémon, but also bug-type so the fire can still harm them badly.

Then I remember Cheren telling me something about these Pokémon:

'_Volcarona are extremely rare. Many people think that they are the strongest Pokémon in Unova. Their fire was once even used when the sun burned out!'_

"Oh no, I have to save them!" I yelled out loud. Many of the Volcarona started flying away with their Larvesta and their eggs, but one of the Larvesta was forgotten about, probably because it was caught under a branch.

Oshawott was already getting tired. There wasn't much I could do. The flames were starting to surround the trapped Larvesta. There wasn't any time to waste, including the time to put out the flames, because by then it would be too late. I reached for the Larvesta. The flames burned, but it was ok because I was doing it to save a Pokémon.

Oshawott noticed this and started to extinguish the rest of the flames around me. Nothing seemed wrong with the Larvesta, I think it was just fatigue. A few hours passed and the all the flames were gone.

"…"

"I told you it was too dangerous!" The nurse scolded as she treated my minor burns.

"No, don't worry, I'm fine!" I assured and smiled."How's Oshawott?"

The nurse smiled. "You care a lot about Pokémon, huh? Your Oshawott is just fine, just a little tired."

"What about the Larvesta? You know the one I was carrying?" I inquired.

"Yes, that little one is fine too, just a minor bruise from the branch it was stuck under. Now, I don't believe I got your name."

" I'm Sara, nice to meet you." I announced and held out my hand to shake.

"I'm Nurse Joy." The pink haired nurse introduced and smiled cheerfully. "My cousins work at the other Pokémon Centers in other towns. They look a lot like me so it's easy to get confused."

"Oh, that's cool. Am I allowed to leave now?" I asked impatiently. I want to get to Straiton City already!

"Yes you may. I'll get your Pokemon." The nurse replied sweetly.

Such strange things have been happening lately. Team Plasma, Ghestis, Hilbert acting weird, that creepy cosplay kid, and… _N_! He's so mysterious! I closed my eyes and started blushing.

"Sara? Sara!" I heard a voice and opened my eyes. I could feel my face burn from embarrassment. "Yes?"

Nurse Joy giggled to herself. "Here are your Pokémon." She handed me Oshawott's poke ball, but then she also handed me the Larvesta that I saved.

"Umm excuse me? This Larvesta isn't _really_ mine. I just saved it from the fire." I said, trying not to sound snobby.

"Really? That Larvesta seems to take a liking to you." The nurse said impressed.

I looked down at the caterpillar and saw its beady blue eyes looking up at me. It had a round black face with white fur surrounding the outer edge of the face. It had five things around its head that reminded me of the rays of the sun. Its stubby legs are black and its body is brown.

"Awww it _is_ kind of cute." I tell myself. I stood up and took a poke ball out of my pink messenger bag.

"Well, looks like your part of our new team, are you ready for the challenges?" I inquired.

"The Larvesta didn't respond in any way. It was probably still shocked from the fire. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." I stated. I threw the poke ball at the Larvesta. I didn't have any cool or geeky catch-phrase for catching the Pokémon, I just caught it. The poke ball shook three times then clicked!

"Yes! How cool!" I beamed and fist pumped. '_This feeling… of catching my first Pokémon, it's…exhilarating.'_

"Thank you Nurse Joy!" I said gratefully and bowed. I went out of the door when I saw that TV reporter who was on the news earlier was right in front of me and had shoved a microphone in front of my face.

"Hello young lady we're from the news channel, _Pokémon now_. What was your inspiration to save the fire?" He inquired desperately.

I started blushing furiously. There was a huge crowd around him, and I_ hated_ being in front of huge crowds like this.

"Ummm, Am I on TV?" I pressed trying to keep my cool. I didn't really watch news shows so I had no idea what to say.

"Live, in fact." He replied and grinned his bright grin.

I immediately froze. _'How embarrassing!' _My face turned crimson red again.

"This young lady saved both Pokémon and people from a dangerous fire. Miss, what is your name and what was your inspiration?"

I _finally_ found out how to keep calm. I remembered an acting tip back from when I was in Jr. High. 1st, and the most popular, imagine that everyone was naked. 2nd, don't look into the camera or anyone's eyes. Look above them or too the side.

"My name is Sara, and my best friend Bianca was stuck in the fire. I love Pokémon and people both, and I want to protect the world from future harm and if it means so, changing it. No matter what, I couldn't do it without my Pokémon." I replied surprisingly maturely.

"Kind of like a Pokémon Ranger?" He inquired.

I stood still for a while. "Yeah, kind of like that."

"Sara, you seem to have a deep love for your Pokémon. There have been a lot of mysterious appearances of a group that calls themselves _Team Plasma_. They've been talking about Pokémon liberation, correct?"

I thought about my experience just yesterday with them. "Yes, I was there at the so called 'rally'."

"May we get your input on their ideals?" He inquired.

'_Ideals.'_ The word echoed in my mind and an image flashed before me. It was an image of…_N?_ He was up close to me smiling his handsome crooked smile. He was talking, but I couldn't hear anything. Behind him was the scenery of a place; maybe a fair?; filled up with bright lights.

"Sara?" a voice snapped. The image quickly disappeared as the real world came flashing back.

"I-I'm sorry, did anyone else see that?"I inquired my face turning pale.

"See what? Are you ok? You must be tired from that fire." He pressed noticing the burns on my arms.

"Yes, you're probably right." I agreed, but deep on the inside I didn't. I knew something weird was happening to me and my friends."About Team Plasma, I understand their thoughts about Pokémon being used and abused by certain people; I felt the same way when I first started my journey. But… I'm starting to realize that Pokémon and people need each other for certain things. I can't do things that they can do, and vice versa."

Silence. No one spoke. I sware that if there were kriketot on this region, I could hear them chirping.

"Thank you Sara, your thoughts count." He finally stated and grinned. "You can see more on our website at our website listed below." _'Online too?'_I thought impressed. " I'm Dan Akashi bringing you what's happening now."

"CUT! GREAT JOB PEOPLE!" one of the crew members yelled. The crowd started to walk away as the crew started to put away equipment.

"Wait! Mr. Akashi!" I called out. He turned around and smiled. "Yes, may I help you?"

"Where is my friend? Bianca? Is she ok?" I asked remembering the strange yet normal now a day's experience.

"I don't know where she is, but I do know that she is safe." The news reporter answered sincerely.

"Thank you!" I beamed and bowed. I started to run off towards Route 2, that _lovely_ route.

"Sara!" a voice cried. I turned around to see none other than my mom and Bianca.

"Mom? Bianca!" I exclaimed and ran over to them. We all hugged each other. "Sara, don't you _ever_ pull something that risky again!" She scolded sobbing lightly into my neck.

"Sara! That was totally dangerous and heroic of you _again_! Thank you for saving all of us." Bianca squealed.

"Mom, I'm fine, I'll try not to do anything that risky again and Bianca, I'm glad you're safe." I said hugging them tighter. Bianca eventually got out of the hug. My mom froze.

"Wait a second." My mom inquired and pulled me out of the hug and grabbed both my shoulders. She gave me one of those motherly looks. '_Oh crap. Please Arceus, save me.'_ I pleaded to myself.

"What does Bianca mean by 'That was totally dangerous and heroic of you again?.'" Apparently, Bianca was referring to the Team Plasma incident. "Young lady, can you explain this to me?" my mom pressed and crossed her arms and tapped her foot, reminding me of Cheren.

"Heh…Heh… long story?" I covered up and laughed nervously sweatdropping and rubbing the back of my fringed hat.

"I have plenty of time." My mom countered. There was no choice, so I started to tell her about the 'rally'.

'This is going to be an…_interesting_ journey.' I thought nervously to myself.

N's POV

There I was in Straiton City eating a late breakfast at the Pokémon Restaurant/Gym. The food was good, the place was nice, and they even had a TV. Apparently, the Pokémon news channel was on. Turns out, there had actually been a fire right on the route that I traveled to come here. The source of the fire was… wait that couldn't be… _Blondie? _ Isn't that Sara's friend? Yes, Blondie is Bianca. I had given each one of Sara's friend nicknames, I just couldn't figure out one to describe Sara's amazing personality. I actually found her very beautiful. I just have this other feeling for her that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I hung out with only Pokémon when I was younger, so I can't really tell how other people around me feel, because I was isolated from people. I'm already nineteen years old, an adult, and I still couldn't understand.

What's even more, it turns out that Sara had saved everyone and put out the fire. I immediately reach into my bag for my X-transceiver. I dialed a number and waited… I heard it ring twice, then the person picked up."

"Yes. It's me, N.I found something that you might find interesting on Channel 7." I murmured with a sly smile.

"…"

"Yeah, that's the Pokémon News Channel… Ok see you later." I replied and hung up.

'Why does he always care about this stuff?' I wondered to myself. 'Oh well, back to thinking of a nickname for Sara. Let's see… Hilbert=Shorty Cheren=Glasses Bianca=Blondie.' I don't know. I can't just describe her with one word. I gave up picked up the magazine on my table and started to read. As I was reading, I saw a column on common names and what they meant. I was scrolling down and there it was:

Sara: Hebrew: Princess.

"Ah, so a princess she is." I chuckled to myself. "This is good stuff."

Now, I just need to see her again.

"…"

Melody: *squeals* I had thought of adding a fire ever since I started writing to add more chapters. The rest I give credit to my fans, friends, and fellow authors! I'm tired, so good night!

Sara: *blushes* Wait what just happened I don't under-

_Please Review_!


	5. The image of the trio

*the door opens as Melody comes in*

Cheren: Melody, you really need to learn how to steel up your courage and _ask_ the authors if you can borrow the characters.

Melody: OH SHUT UP CHEREN!

Bianca: Melody, don't yell at him

Melody: UH, WHY NOT?

Bianca: *backs away slowly*

Melody: I mean, I don't think _anyone_ reads _any_ of my stories. I mean, I put so much hard work into them.

Sara: Well, You've got three positive reviews last time I checked; some people have some of you and your stories on their favorites list.

Hilbert: Yeah, but your scale of readers have gone down from 68 to 9 or something like that and-

Everyone: "HILBERT! "SERIOUSLY?" "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" *sighs* *rolls eyes*

Melody: *sighs* I mean I don't want to be rude and tell people to review or else I won't stop writing, and even if I did, they could probably could care less…

Disclaimer: So, are you going to stop writing?

Melody: I can't. I live by _the rule_

Disclaimer: You don't mean…

Melody: Yeah, that one.

Disclaimer:*Gasps*

Cast: Huh?

Disclaimer: You know, Melody's motto.

Sara: 'I'm not a complete idiot, there still are some parts missing.'?

Melody: No actually-

Bianca: 'Life isn't about finding yourself; it's about creating yourself.'?

Disclaimer: No, it's-

Cheren: 'SHUT UP!'?

Everyone: *tries not to laugh*

Melody: *glares at Cheren* Haha, very funny Cheren.

Cheren: She scares me.

Hilbert: 'When life gives you lemons, make grape juice. Then sit back and watch how the world wonder how you did it.'?

Disclaimer: That's cool, but she doesn't even use that-

Everyone: JUST TELL US ALREADY!

Disclaimer and Melody: WE'VE BEEN TRYING!

"…"

Melody: _'Once you start something, you have to finish it.'_ Plus, I love to write. It's one of the only things I _might_ be good at soo…

Cast: "Ooh" "That's tough" "A good but hard rule to live by" "Ouch"

Disclaimer: *nods*

Melody:…*smirks* I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE AHAHAHAHA!

Everyone: ?

Melody: I just put this on so that I could ask the audience (if there is any) for advice, and to inspire people to live by this rule! Because I read some authors stories for fun and for words to use, and I end up really liking some of them, but then they quit

Everyone: *sweatdrops* Melody…

Melody: So, whadda ya say readers! Will you give me advice?

*crickets chirping*

Melody: I'll take that as a yes!

Disclaimer: See what would happen if Melody owned Pokémon?

"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…"…."…"…"…"…"…"…"…

Sara's POV

My mom had given me some advice, and then she left. My mom was so overprotective of me. I was actually glad that she left. It was fun to be with my friends or even just Bianca.

Bianca and I were walking towards Straiton City, talking about Pokémon and other things. I looked around at the charred trees and smoky air and frowned. It was so peaceful and beautiful before this. Memories from what seemed like an eternity ago flooded my mind. Then, I thought about that weird cosplay kid who had saved Bianca… he just disappeared.

"Bianca? Remember during the fire when you were stuck?" I asked her firmly. I already knew, I just wanted her side of the story. She looked at me horrified; a look I've _never_ seen on Bianca.

"That was scary, I thought I was going to die. I mean, I was all surrounded in fire." She replied shakily.

"How'd you get out?" I confronted. Bianca blushed slightly and looked down at her feet.

"Don't tell anyone, I'm even unsure about telling you. Pinkie Swear?" Bianca whispered in a somewhat playful tone.

I smiled. "Pinkie Swear." I replied and crossed her delicate pinkie.

"Ok." She looked around frantically. "There was this boy, maybe my age or younger. I could tell by his height, which was as tall as you, and somehow, I could tell by his eyes. The weird thing was, he was dressed as a ninja and had white hair. And, he somehow got into my trapped area." She pronounced dreamily.

"A ninja you say?" I questioned, trying to play the part. "Hmm, that's odd!" I exclaimed, a little too obvious. Bianca didn't seem to notice stuff like that though.

'_Shadow-'_I heard a voice whisper in my mind. "Bianca, did you say something?"

"Nope! Why?" She beamed.

"Nothing." I replied shadily. I started to go faint. _'What? Maybe it's just my mind playing tricks on me, and I'm probably really tired from that fire.' _I assured myself. I noticed my knees turning inward and bending down. I started to get a headache. I put my hand on my forehead, as if that would help me.

"Sara? Are you ok?" Bianca worried.

I looked up at her. But I didn't see Bianca. Instead, I saw a cave in front of me, light up with bright blue lights and different bug Pokémon here and there. I saw the vision moving forward, then I saw myself, walking. Three shady figures…_ninjas?_-snuck up behind me and surrounded me. I saw myself panic and try to look at them. _'Come'_ was they're only reply.

I found myself looking up at Bianca. "Sara? Are you OK?" Bianca panicked.

I blinked in confusion a few times looking around, taking in my surroundings. I was 'back' on the burnt up Route.

"Bianca?"

"Yes?"

"Do you believe in… visions? And such?" I sighed, ready to get laughed at.

"Well, sure." She said to my surprise. "I mean, in _Pokémon Explorers of Time_, don't you, like, see visions of the past and future? Oh, that game was so cool! Remember Wigglituff? Haha! He was so cute and-"

"Bianca! Please focus!" I snapped in the nicest way I could. I guess I could see how Cheren gets so annoyed with her, but Cheren also has a short temper.

I sighed and looked at her. "I think I've been having visions lately."

Bianca's POV

Sara. Said. She's. Having. Visions. HOW COOL!

I tried to maintain my excitement. I only acted like that around Cheren, so that he could pay attention to me. He's always talking; no _teasing_ Hilbert about something. I guess I was kind of jealous.

"Really? About what?" I asked curiously.

Sara sighed. We kept walking a few steps in silence until she finally spoke:

"Well, it starts off where I hear this…_voice_ inside my head, and-" I had to interrupt her, my curiosity was taking over.

"What did the voice sound like?" I pressed with a cheerful tone.

She was silent for a moment. "Kind of, deep, but kind."

I came up with an amazing idea! "Oh my gosh! It could be Arceus!"

"No, remember that episode we saw in _Legendary Pokemon encounters_ where they actually found Arceus and translated his voice? It sounded different." She replied.

"Oh. Ok." I sighed. " Sara! I know what can cheer you up! Let's have a Pokémon battle! My Pokémon have become a lot stronger since we last battled!" I exclaimed hyperly.

She sweatdropped. "Bianca, you haven't really gotten to train your Pokémon after all that's happened and-

"Yeah I did! Well, before I caused the fire." I insisted.

She sighed. "OK. It has been a while since I've battled my best friends."

Well, she's right. The last person she battled was-_N_. Hahaha! I loved teasing her about him. She gets all defensive right away.

"Well, you did battle N." I said

"Yeah, so?" She said surprisingly casual.

"Isn't he one of your best friends?" I asked innocently.

Sara started to blush a lot. "N-no. I- don't think so. I just met him…"

"But you guys get along so well!" I teased.

She paused for a second. "Get along? He used a cheesy guy move on me! Then, he asked me to battle him!" She stated defensively and crossed her arms.

"Sara, you're not even making sense." I countered. Her face started turning even redder.

"BIANCA! JUST BATTLE ME ALREADY!" She screamed.

"Ok,ok gheesh." I exclaimed. I could tell she really wanted to defeat me know.

"Gooo Lily!" I bubbled cutely and used my cutesy pose. My Lillipup barked happily.

Sara's face was still red. Probably from anger, embarrassment, and… was that a little admiration I saw gleaming in her eyes? Probably for N! I thought to myself and giggled out loud.

"LETS BEAT THEM UP, LARVESTA!" Sara yelled furiously and pointed to my Lillipup. I know Sara had a soft spot for Pokémon, and she's confused about how the Pokémon feel about battling. I had just annoyed her to the point where she acted like this. But, I wonder how Sara feels. Did she find out why most trainers have their Pokémon battle and how different Pokémon feel? The only reason why I would know is because of Cheren. He's told me a lot of stuff about Pokémon. We used to hang out every day, until Hilbert moved in. Luckily, Sara moved in just a year ago. N can understand Pokémon though. How can he do it?

Maybe that's a reason why Sara admires him.

Sara's POV

Bianca just pushed it to my point. I couldn't stand her teasing me, even if it was out of her innocence.

"LETS BEAT THEM UP LARVESTA! I screamed. I really didn't want to see Pokémon battles this way, but it was my temper taking over. My Larvesta came out, still quiet as usual.

"Lilly, use-

"LARVESTA, USE EMBER!" I interrupted. My Larvesta shot a fiery red blob out of its horns. It almost KO'd her Lillipup.

"HEY! No fair!" She squealed. "You interrupted me!" Bianca stated defiantly and put her hands on her hips .

"There's no rules against it!" I mocked.

"Lily, use tackle!"

"Larvesta, dodge it and finish it off with leech life!"I stated, hoping it would know it. It attempted to use it; she did, but not as strong as the attack should've been.

Lillipup fainted, since I used a strong ember attack before.

"NOOOO LILY!" Bianca cried out. "You did good Lily." She said and the Pokémon returned to the poke ball.

"Yes!" I yelled and fist pumped.

"Sara, you're as strong as always, but I still have my Tepig!" Bianca squealed."GO TEPIG!"

"Ok. Larvesta, return." I said and brought out my other poke ball. "It's showtime, Oshawott." I mocked in a heroic tone.

Oshawott jumped out enthusiastically and winked."Oshawott, Bianca has pushed it too far. I need you to use your attack at its strongest ever, ok?"

"Osha!" It replied and nodded. It spouted water out of its mouth to the fullest it could, plus it was super effective against her Tepig. This time, it was a 1-hit KO!

"Umm, should I be worried now?" She panicked

"Yes! Good job Oshawott! Return!" I rejoiced jumping up high.

"Wow Sara! You and Oshawott got a lot stronger! I think you should be able to challenge the gym leader in the next town, I mean, if you wanted to." Bianca exclaimed.

"Thanks, and, I guess I could try to challenge the Gym Leader."I said and we started walking.

I started to wonder about that cosplay kid that saved Bianca. She said she could tell his age by his stature, sure I can understand that, but, _'by his eyes'?_

"Bianca. When that cosplay kid-

"Ninja!"She corrected

I sighed. "OK. When that…_ninja_ saved you, you said you could tell that he was your age by his eyes, right?"

"Yes siree!" She exclaimed.

"Ok. What color were his eyes. Brown, Blue, Green, Hazel?"

"Red!"

"What?"

"Red! His eyes were a fiery red!" Bianca beamed.

"Like he was tired?" I questioned.

"Noooo! They were pretty! His _irises_; that's the word right?; were red." She stated casually.

"_Strange… kind of like, in an anime. So…maybe he was wearing contacts. Some people wear purple contacts.'_

"OOO! LOOK THERE'S STRAITON CITY!" Bianca beamed and pointed. Her bright green eyes were shining enthusiastically. "Bye-bye Sara! Thanks for battling me!" She yelled and ran off to the tiny shops.

I sweatdropped. That's Bianca, serious for a second and then as scatterbrained as usual.

Straiton City was yet _another_ rural town. The apartments and entry stairways, I guess for when it gets snowy in the winter and other small buildings including a trainer school, small shops, and a restaurants!

Starting to think of it, I was actually getting really hungry. I started to walked over to the restaurant when I saw a man standing in front of the restaurant.

"Umm, is the restaurant open yet?" I asked the man.

"Oh, you want to eat here?" The man asked.

"Yeah, what else would I do?" I joked and then laughed. I looked over at the man but his face was serious.

"This is also a Pokemon Gym!" He gaped.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." I apologized. "Do you know where there are any restaurants nearby?"

"You can eat here." He said and took me inside.

A waiter then escorted me to a nearby table. In front of me, I saw a red curtain with a fire insignia printed on it. I was so curious, I couldn't even control it.

I slightly raised my hand up. "Would you like to order?" He asked

"Yes, and umm, what's that curtain for?" I tried to ask politely.

"That is for the course for challenging the Gym Leaders." He answered. "Now, what would you like to order?"

"Are there any specials?"

"Why yes. There's the springtime special with two fried eggs, two pieces of toast, bacon or ham, and hashbrowns or fruit."

'_Wow that's a lot.'_ I thought to myself.

"Or, there's the petite springtime special with one egg, one piece of ham, and a piece of coffee cake. With your choice of tea or coffee."

"That sounds nice. I'll have that with a choice of tea." I replied.

The waiter froze. "Tea?" He asked. "Most people choose coffee. I don't know if the chef's will be able to make that. We're very low on stock now."

'_That's strange._ _If they're low on stock, couldn't I have some?'_

"Your food will be ready shortly." He replied and walked into the kitchen.

He came back out a few minutes later and handed me my food with the bill. "Enjoy." He said and walked away.

"Wait!" I called out. I need to learn how to be more confident in myself. Then Cheren's words flashed into my head. _'Sara, don't get yourself into too much trouble.'_ I shook off that thought. Sorry Cheren.

"Yes?"

"If the tea's low on stock, why couldn't I have some?"

"Ok here's the truth. We just fired some of our chef's who made some of the best tea. The Gym Leaders are their only substitute, and since their tea is definitely the best, they only offer it to special trainers."

"Why?" I asked curiously. "And what do you mean by Gym Leader**s**" I emphasized the's'.

The waiter gaped. "The Gym Leaders make an outstanding combo! Cilan chooses great tea leaves, Cress prepares the best water, and Chili pours hot water at the right heat! It's a gourmet masterpiece!" He beamed.

"Wait, there's…_three_ Gym Leaders?" I asked abruptly.

"Yes, all young brothers. Chili is the youngest, Cilan is the in the middle, about your age, actually, and Cress is the oldest."

"Why are there three?" I inquired chewing in between questions.

He froze again. "I SAID TOO MUCH AGAIN! OH, THE BROTHERS GAVE ME SO MUCH MERCY, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY WOULD THINK OF ME NOW!" He panicked and ran into the kitchen.

I sighed. I guess I'll have to find these gym leaders myself so I can have some of their so-called amazing tea. I stood up leaving the unfinished food and the filled out bill on the table. I gave him a good tip out of sympathy.

"Excuse me?" I asked the man who led me into the gym. "Can I battle the Gym Leaders? I'm a new trainer from Nuvema town, so can you tell me how this works?"

"I would, but the Gym Leader has left to the trainer school. You could look for him there if you like. When you walk out, it's to your right, next to the Pokémon Center." He directed.

"Thank you! I said and went to the Pokemon Center to heal my Pokemon; they were probably tierd. I wonder what kind of Gym Leader**s **they were.

Cheren's POV

I was only in Straiton City! I leave my friends early to get a head start, but even so, I'm only here! That big fire kept me behind, plus the fact that I couldn't defeat the Gym Leader!

I was at the Trainer School obtaining knowledge when the Grass type user Cilan came in! I didn't even want to show my face; I was ashamed because I wasn't even close to beating his brother so I hid behind the bookshelf. I felt like such a coward, I guess this is how Hilbert felt at Trainer School when he was too nervous to say 'Hi' to Sara when she first came. I heard him talking about type matchups and how even if the type is stronger than your opponents, the Pokémon itself has to be stronger to easily defeat the rival. "Battling with your friends helps you become stronger." He had said. I took a mental note of that for the future.

The class clapped and the green-haired Gym Leader started walking out the door. He looked my way and saw me. "Hey Cheren!" He called out and waved. I froze as I felt my face burning up. I was caught red-handed! Now I know how Hilbert felt when Sara had asked him why he was hiding behind the tree at our school. I only waved back as he walked out the door.

I have much more to learn. I walked up to the blackboard studying what items to use in certain situations, when Sara walked in. She seemed to be looking for someone, or something. She caught my glance and smiled.

"CHEREN! WHY'D YOU LEAVE? HOW'S YOUR JOURNEY?" She squealed in a Bianca-ish tone and ran up to me.

"Yeah, its fine. I can't beat the freaking Gym Leader." I replied sourly. "Hey, I heard you saved Bianca from that fire."

"Oh yeah. Hey, have you run into Hilbert?" She asked curiously.

"No, why?" I asked interested.

"Well, you know how he's been acting weird lately?"

"Yeah." I replied quickly with a smirk on my face.

"He decided to leave on his own."

"_No!"_ I replied sarcastically. Sara rolled her eyes.

"Oh well. Anyways, I'm here to look for the Gym Leader, Cilan I believe." She stated surprisingly maturely.

"He just left. You must of missed him somehow." I replied. "Hey Sara. I want to test out these new battle strategies and items I have. Will you battle me so I can beat the Gym Leader?"

"Sure Cheren! It'll be fun!" She beamed and smiled even more. _'How could she think like that about Pokemon Battles? They're not something to take lightly, and I learned that the hard way.'_ I thought to myself remembering the experience with Chili.

We both brought out our Pokémon and started to battle. She had a new Pokemon, a Larvesta. Those are extremely rare so I don't know how she got one. Her battling style was amazing. I don't think by the way she responded to me that she was trying to use such amazing technique. Before long, she had already defeated both my Purrlion and my Snivy.

"Good job Cheren!" Sara exclaimed and held out her hand to shake. I shook it and then started wondering about how strong she is and if I could challenge Chili again.

"How do you do it?" I asked her.

"Do what?" She replied innocently.

"You know- beat pretty much anyone in battle."

"I don't know. I just really love Pokémon and I want to spend time with them so, yeah."

I paused for a moment. She doesn't even know? How can she use such great technique? "Do you think I can beat Chili this time?"

She faced me and smiled, her bright blue eyes shining. "Of course! I think you're really strong Cheren. Trust in your Pokemon and you can do anything. I couldn't have put out the fire without Oshawott's help!

"You should challenge the Gym, Sara." I advised. "I'll tell you the secret of the Gym Leader trio. There's three brothers'; each one for fire, water or grass. The Gym Leader that has the advantage to the starter Pokémon will battle you. It's helpful to have a Pokémon that has an advantage to them."

She seemed to be registering what I said for a moment and then said: "Ok. Thanks for everything Cheren! Bye!" She beamed and walked out.

'_She has no experience; and here I am stuck at Straiton City studying everything I can about Pokemon.'_

I think she can beat any of the trio. With her determination and strength she definitely can.

I need the strength that she has. My Pokémon will help.

Melody: YES! Ah, the feeling of completing a chapter; I haven't felt it in a while.

Hilbert: Melody's been having mood swings lately.

Sara: *laughing hysterically at Cheren*

Cheren: *face is turning red* I didn't say it! Melody wrote it!

Melody: What?

Sara: You wrote; and I quote: _'I was at the training school obtaining knowledge…"_ BWAHAHAHA!

Melody: Cheren is supposed to be an intelligent character! He's supposed to use big words!

Cheren: Yes Melody, intelligent, not cheesy and stupid.

Bianca: Cheren!

Melody: Ok. I know the Disclaimer is only to state that you don't own that company, but come on seriously. Ok and I know I have really lame title names so can anyone R&R me ideas?

Please Review! :3


	6. Triple trouble for everyone!

Melody: Hey guys! This is a big chapter to tackle …the first gym leader battle…I didn't think things through again did I?

Everyone: Nope! No you didn't!*laughs*

Melody:…fine then. Be that way. If you keep acting like that, I'll make _Cheren _lose the Gym Battle.

Cheren:*gasps*

Hilbert: Then, he's going to unleash all his fury on to me…crap.

Sara: Ok guys! Let's be nice to Melody! And no one aggravate Cheren!

"…"

Bianca: You'll make Cheren loose against the Gym Leader _again?_

Everyone: BIANCA!

Disclaimer: Melody doesn't own Pokemon.

Sara's POV

I started sprinting towards the Pokémon gym.

'_Cheren couldn't defeat the Gym Leader? I don't know if I can then…'_ I thought to myself. Well, if I beat the Gym Leader, I can get some of that 'amazing' tea that I deserve! The Gym Leaders make the tea, so if I beat them, maybe I can get some tea!

I walked into the Gym, my bag full of potions, Pokémon healed, ready to go. The same man that had helped me before walked over to me and handed me a bottle of fresh water; I guess for my Pokemon. "You're gonna need this." He said.

"In this Gym, you proceed forward by choosing the correct Pokémon advantages. See those curtains?" He instructed and pointed to a red curtain with a fire insignia on it. "That shows the Pokemon type. On the floor, there are round tiles with other signs. Step onto the sign with the advantage type of the one on the curtain, and you will proceed forward. Good Luck."

I took in a deep breath. I hope I can win against the Gym Leader. Let's see…fire. I looked down at the floor. I stepped on the water tile and looked up. Soon enough, the curtains move back and revealed another curtain. Ok, there's another one, that's fine.

I went forward; a lot of times. I started to get really annoyed.

I reached what seemed like my hundredth one and heard voices arguing.

"Chili! You have to be sneakier! You can't just go prancing around like that! You probably drawed _huge _attention to yourself by pulling that stunt!"

"Aw come on Cilan! I don't think anyone noticed! I was just saving a girl from a fire!" the voice argued.

I almost stumbled forward and stepped on the correct tile. _'Are they talking about Bianca?'_

"Say what you will. You almost blew our cover!" The first voice; Cilan stated.

"But, no one really knows about _us_. Sure, they know about all the other people, but we're still unknown. Besides, I don't think N would care…" Chili trailed off.

I almost stumbled forward again. _N? How did N get involved?_

"Shut up, Chili!" A new voice hissed. "You already said enough about us already! If you do want to talk about it, _all_ of us will talk about it later. Plus, I think there's a challenger in this Gym! They might have heard _everything!_"The voice scolded.

"No Cress! Please, not _all_ of us!" Chili pleaded. "…There's a challenger? Is it that Cheren guy? He's persistent; I have to give him that."

'_All of us? What did he mean by that? Yes, Cheren is very persistent, but keep talking about the suspicious stuff!'_ I pleaded to myself.

"No; Clyde said it was a girl about my age." Cilan corrected maturely.

'_How long are they going to constantly babble about random stuff?'_ I stepped on the correct tile just in time to see Cress nudge Cilan. "Your age, eh?" Chili teased with a mischievous smile. I stepped forward and waited. They all looked over at me and froze. I felt my face turn red.

They were all wearing waiter uniforms with different colored bow ties. The one on the left side; the shortest had fiery red locks that matched his mischievous eyes. Hm… red eyes… interesting. The one in the middle; about Cheren's height had his tea green hair gelled up, his green eyes shining determinedly. His hair color reminded me of N's and his bright green eyes were like Bianca's. The one on the right side; a little shorter than N, had his sapphire blue bangs slanting in front of his face covering his eye. His visible eye was a bright azure blue. They didn't even look like brothers, except for their facial structure. They were all very handsome either way though. They all stood up back in their original positions acting as if nothing had happened.

"Hi, umm, I couldn't help but overhearing you guys talking about N? Do you guys know him?"I confronted trying to sound innocent. They froze again.

Cilan spoke up. "Umm, well, you see, he challenged our Gym! Yes! That's what he did!" he rubbed the back of his head and sweatdropped.

N was going to challenge the Gyms too? Cool! We can be rivals!

Focus Sara! "Umm…ok then." I replied confused and laughed nervously.

Nobody said anything for a moment.

"W-Welcome to the Straiton City Pokémon Gym!" Cilan covered up. I sweatdropped.

"I'm Chili! I light up things with fire type pokemon! I'm the youngest of us brothers!" The red-head responded.

"I'm a water-type expert and my name is Cress! I am the oldest of us. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Cress caught on.

"And my name is Cilan, right smack in the middle of our trio! I prefer grass-type Pokémon." Cilan finished dramatically. They all laughed nervously trying to cover up their mistake.

They were all very gentlemanly. Even Chili had this politeness around him. They used big words, correctly too! I think…

"Hi, I'm Sara. I'm a Pokémon trainer from Nuvema town!" I said trying to fit in.

"Umm, well, you see, um the reason why there's three of us is because…er… well how do I say it? Umm…" Cilan stammered nervously.

"Oh enough of your babbling!" Chili interrupted impatiently. Cilan glared at him. "The reason why all three of us brothers are here so we'll decide whom you'll battle! The person you'll battle will depend on the type your starter Pokémon is."

"That is indeed the case." Cress continued in a polite tone. "It seems that the first Pokémon that you chose was a water-type."

"That means…I get to battle Cilan!" I exclaimed to myself out loud. Great. He's the grass type trainer.

"Nothing hard feelings, but me and my Pokémon…umm, are going to battle come what may."

That's it? I thought he was going to say some catchy motto or something. He was actually being nice!

"Really Cilan? You're too polite!" Chili complained. "Are you going to battle her or ask her out?" Chili teased.

Cilan and I both blushed. "C-Chili!" Cilan exclaimed. "Fine. I'll be quiet." Chili moaned. Cress sweatdropped.

"So,um, if you're OK with battling me, I'll, um, put everything you got into being, er, you know…your opponent." Cilan stammered. Chili slapped his forehead and Cress laughed to himself.

"Well, let's start this battle, shall we?" I mocked playfully.

Cilan's POV

Chili had gotten into even more trouble; _again. _He saved this girl from that major fire! It was on every channel! He could've exposed our secret.

"Aw come on Cilan!" He whined. I didn't even listen to his excuses. The only part that popped up in our conversation was when he brought up N.

"…Besides, I don't think N would care…"Chili moaned loudly.

I gaped at how loud he said that. "Shut up, Chili!" Cress hissed. "You already said enough about us already! If you do want to talk about it, _all_ of us will talk about it later. Plus, I think there's a challenger in this Gym! They might have heard _everything!_"Cress scolded.

"No Cress! Please, not _all_ of us!" Chili pleaded. "…There's a challenger? Is it that Cheren guy? He's persistent; I have to give him that."

"No; Clyde said it was a girl about my age." I corrected. Why did I just say that? They were going to torture me now.

Cress nudged me and Chili gave me a mischievous look. "Your age eh?" Chili gave me his troublesome grin. We all heard a movement of some kind and looked over towards the curtain. A teenage girl was standing there moving her golden brown hair out of her face. Her sky blue eyes widened and she blushed. She was really pretty; I mean, I liked Opelucid's Iris a lot more, but I don't think Iris even knew who I was.

I guess Sara heard about our conversation because she asked us if we knew N.

"Umm, well, you see, he challenged our Gym! Yes! That's what he did!" I lied. That didn't even explain what Chili said, but she didn't seem to care.

After an awkward moment of silence, we went on with our introduction. She told us that her name was Sara. Wait…Sara? Hadn't N mentioned something about her? I also recognized her from the Pokemon News channel. His description matched her perfectly… oh well, no matter. Since I was used to my manners, I was trying to be as polite as possible. I hadn't battled anyone in a while so that was all I could do.

"Really Cilan?" Chili complained. "You're too polite!" Chili complained. "Are you going to battle her or ask her out?" Chili teased and winked mischievously.

Sara and I both blushed. "C-Chili!" I exclaimed. "Fine. I'll be quiet." Chili pouted and crossed his arms.

"So,um, if you're OK with battling me, I'll, um, put everything you got into being, er, you know…your opponent." I stammered. I heard Chili grumble something under his breath.

"Well, let's start this battle, shall we?" Sara mocked playfully.

"Yes, we shall." I played along and bowed. I could hear Chili moan even more.

"Go LIlipup!" I threw the poke ball forward and my puppy Pokémon cam bursting out.

"Go Oshawott!" She beamed and tossed the poke ball forward. "Osha!" it responded happily

"Oshawott, use water gun!" Sara pointed to my Pokémon. I could feel Cress's judgmental eyes as well as Chili's mischievous ones glaring at me. My Pokémon flung back and hit the wall.

"Oh no! My Pokemon!" I exclaimed. We went back and forth. It was an even battle, but Sara had the upper hand with all of her potions.

Soon enough, my Lillipup couldn't fight anymore. "Good job Lilipup, return." "Great job Oshawott!" Sara exclaimed and hugged her Pokemon. I sent out my last Pokémon, Pansage. It was a small green monkey with a long tail and a tiny tree on top of its head. Sara's eyes widened and after a moment she took out her pokedex and recorded it.

"Huh? Could it be that I only have _one_ Pokemon left?" I gaped in shock, which triggered Chili to mumble to himself "Yeah, you do. Can't you count?"

"Go Larvesta!" She exclaimed and sent out her fire-type caterpillar Pokémon in the same tossing way she had done before.

"Pansage, use scratch!" I directed. Pansage lunged up into the air to scratch the Larvesta.

"Larvesta, dodge it and use ember!" She said. Fire-type moves are super effective against grass-types so it was an easy one-hit KO.

"Er…Is that it?" I asked myself so that Chili wouldn't hear. I looked up at Sara and saw her smiling. "Good match!" she replied happily.

Sara's POV

"…What a surprise. You are incredibly strong." Cilan said and paused for a moment. "Seems like not even Chili or Cress could beat you…" Cilan taunted and gave a sideways glance to Chili.

"HEY!" Chili yelled. "Take that back Cilan!" Chili pointed angrily at Cilan. Cress sighed obviously annoyed.

"I don't believe I'll be doing anything of the sort." Cilan mocked in a gentlemanly voice which ticked off Chili.

I sweatdropped. Seems like its Chili and Cilan who get in all the fights, while Cress is kind of to the side of everything.

Cilan ignored Chili came up close to me pulling something out of his pocket. It was a badge that had three diamonds lined up vertically. The top one was blue, the middle one was red, and the bottom one was green. Cilan grabbed my hand with both of his and slipped it into my hand. He held onto my hand for a little longer which made me blush.

"What I just gave you was a Gym Badge-." Cilan started but soon got interrupted by his younger sibling:

"No, dur!" Chili mocked. Cilan whipped his head around and glared at Chili. Cress sweatdropped.

Cilan sighed and continued. "Gym badges are proof of your abilities." Cilan explained still holding onto my hand. If you have one badge, Pokémon, including traded Pokémon up to a certain level of expectation will obey you without question." I nodded taking this in.

He let go of my hand. For some reason, I wanted him to hold onto it longer. Maybe it was his gentlemanly powers at work…

"In the Unova region, my brothers and I, we're still novice Gym Leaders." Cilan continued as I slipped my badge into my pocket. "That means that we'll need to train a lot harder to improve, because the other Gym Leaders are a lot stronger than we are."

"Oh Cilan! I meant to ask you something!" I remembered why I had originally come here.

"Yes?" He replied.

"Your waiter told me that you guys make the best tea for trainers who beat your Gym! May I please try some of your tea?" I pleaded, realizing that I used the words 'may' and 'please'. Their polite manners must be rubbing off on me.

"Why, of course." Cilan responded with his gentleman-ish bow. "Chili! Cress! May you please get the supplies ready?"

"Why only us two?" Chili argued.

"Because I'm going to escort Sara to a table." Cilan countered.

Chili and Cress gaped. Then they walked to the kitchen, both mumbling something about Cilan and someone named Iris.

Cilan held his hand out toward me and smiled. I froze for some reason, then relaxed and took it. He led me to a table with one seat.

"Your tea will be ready soon." He said and walked off to the kitchen.

Yes! I finally get to try some of their 'amazing' tea. That's what everyone called it, so I wanted to see for myself…kind of like a food critic! Ugh, except that I have to pay. I took the badge out of my pocket and rubbed it against my shirt so that it would shine. I then put it into the matching slot of my badge case that my mom got me for my birthday. Mom…I wonder how she's doing.

Soon enough, Cilan came out of the kitchen with my tea, his face bright red. "Chili! We're going to talk later!" He yelled.

"Not all of us! Especially...you know…" Chili moaned, his voice trailing off.

Cilan ignored him and headed towards my table. "Your tea, ma'am." He offered in his waiter tone. I couldn't help but bursting into giggles.

"Is something wrong?" he asked politely. I looked up at him; his face looked clearly confused.

"I'm sorry!" I replied still laughing. "It's just that even the most mature of my friends; he's not as polite as you!" I thought of Cheren. Even how he knew everything, he would interrupt Prof. Juniper a lot. I took a sip of my tea and beamed. The divine flavor danced across my taste buds "...This tea is the best!" I exclaimed. "Thank you." He said in reply of both of my comments.

Speaking of Prof. Juniper, I just now remembered an errand that she asked me. _'Visit my friend Fennel in Straiton City! Good Luck!'_, or something like that. I sipped my tea again, nearly finishing it.

"Hey, umm, do you know where Fennel's house is?" I asked Cilan.

"Oh yeah, I do!" Chili came sprinting out of his kitchen raising his hand. "Do you want the normal way, or the fun way?"

"Ummm-

"Fun way it is!"Chili exclaimed with a cheesy grin. Cilan sighed and I sweatdropped.

" Ok, so first, Fennel lives on the second floor of an apartment in room 17. First, when you walk out the Gym, you'll want to go around back. You'll see a ladder used for fire escapes. You'll want to climb up to the top of the ladder, and once you do, you'll be able to see the top of all the buildings! Look for the building with a tiny flag on top then-…"

Cilan and I both nodded and smiled, not listening to a word he was saying. I stood up as well as Cilan.

"And then-!" Chili went on until I interrupted. "Thanks Chili! I'm sure I'll use that route well…never." I said and shook my head. Cilan stood up, grabbed my shoulders from behind, and started to walk out the door. I blushed at his action, especially from the fact that his grip was slightly tight "I'm sure she would prefer the normal way." Cilan mocked sarcastically.

"Oh! Cilan, I forgot to pay for the tea! How much is it?" I asked.

"Let's see… 1o poke dol-" Chili started.

"Don't worry about it, it's a gift." Cilan interrupted. Chili and Cilan gaped. "You don't-wait, what about-."

"Bye, Chili!" Cilan interrupted.

I shot a quick glance back at the restaurant/Pokémon Gym. "Bye Chili, Cress, and Clyde!" I called out. The older man that had helped me before waved at me. I'm guessing that that was Clyde. I knew his name because Cilan had mentioned him earlier:

'_No; __Clyde__ said it was a girl about my age.'_

Cilan and I walked out into the warm springtime air, side-by-side. The flowers were blooming and the air smelled pleasant. I looked over at Cilan to notice him enjoying the gift of spring. He was so polite, kind and nice. He almost reminded me of N. Except for the fact that N used a cheesy guy move on me. I don't think he liked me, I just think that he was doing it for laughs or something like that.

"Sara,are you alright?" Cilan asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?" I asked innocently.

"Well, your face turned red, I couldn't help but noticing." He replied kindly.

I felt my face. I guess it was true, because my face was warm. It couldn't be from thinking about N… I have to come up with an excuse.

"I-I just got over a cold. Yeah!" I lied pathetically. I looked over at him to see him smiling.

He put his hand on my forehead, and then moved it down to my cheek which just made it worse.

"You're kind of warm." He stated. "Just don't run around too much, okay?"

"Okay." I said. At least he wasn't doing for the same reason that N had. Stupid N…

"Well, we're here!" He exclaimed. I looked up at the small 3 story apartment.

"Now remember. She's on the second floor, room 17." He said.

"Thanks for everything Cilan." I replied gratefully.

"Please…" he said grabbing my hand like the way he did earlier. "…it's my pleasure." Cilan continued. He brought my hand up towards his face and gave me a short but sweet kiss on my hand. I felt my face turn even redder. "Until we meet again." He spoke up and walked away. _'That's what N said when he left."_ I thought to myself

I watched him for a while, frozen, and then went inside. I felt giddy and I couldn't stop smiling. That is, until I started getting dizzy.

"Maybe I do have a cold." I said to myself. "Oh no, not this again." I replied, remembering the visions. A light shined in front of me and then I saw myself on a dark street. There was a flickering street light, trash cans, and a small hole-in-the-wall coffee shop. I was walking towards the other side of the street when I saw someone trap me in a bear hug. I could see his mouth moving, but yet again, I couldn't hear anything. As if out of nowhere, another cosplay kid showed up. He was taller and he had green eyes.

I flashed back to the real world, seeing the apartment. I saw a woman about Prof. Juniper's age come running down the stairs towards me.

"Hey there! Are you Sara Whitela?"She called out, using my first name. I hadn't heard my full name since my mom scolded me last. I hope I didn't do anything too bad now.

"Yes, that's me!" I replied raising my hand.

The young woman had a long white lab coat with a pink cami underneath. The lab coat reached right below her knees, the same length of her dark blue-purplish hair. She wore pink flats as well as a pink and light purple flower hair pin that kept her bangs out of her face. Her ocean blue eyes shined with curiosity behind her glasses.

"Why is your face red?" The young woman asked innocently. I froze. _'I can't tell her!'_

"Oh well. I'm Fennel, I believe Prof. Juniper mentioned me? She mentioned you and your friends. Please follow me up to my room! Your friend is here too!" Fennel announced.

"Really? Which one?" I beamed.

"You'll see. Come on!" She said running up the stairs. I ran after her, at a good pace.

She unlocked her room and opened the door. I saw another girl dressed in blue with glasses to match. She had her brownish auburn hair pulled back into pigtails. She was sitting on a bed that was hooked up to some strange device. Sitting next to her was none other than Bianca.

"Bianca!"

"Sara!"

We hugged each other. "Did you beat the Gym Leader?" I asked her.

"Yeah… he was somehow easy." Bianca said. "What about you?"

"Yep!" I replied.

"Well of course Sara, you can probably beat any Gym Leader!" She exclaimed.

"You had to battle Cress, right? I had to battle Cilan-." I stopped short remembering our experience. I felt my face turn red again.

"Sara…are you thinking about-." Bianca started

"DON'T SAY IT BIANCA! DON'T YOU DARE SAY-!"I interrupted

"N?" Bianca asked innocently. I glared at her.

Fennel and her friend both sweatdropped watching us. "Good to see you guys catching up…I think." Fennel broke out.

There was something more important than N though. "Bianca, can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure Sara!" She said.

I whispered to her about what I overheard Chili say.

"No way! He can't be the ninja!" Bianca exclaimed.

"I think so Bianca. Everythings very suspicious now."

N's POV

I entered the Pokémon Gym and greeted Chili Cress and Cilan. They were apparently having a conversation.

"Hey guys, have there been any challengers lately?" I asked. They all looked at me and froze.

"Well yes, Cheren, but he hasn't succeeded yet. And there was also a young man named Hilbert" Chili stated.

"There was this one young girl named Bianca." Cress continued.

"And just a few minutes ago, there was a girl named Sara who battled me." Cilan finished.

"Wait, Sara?" I asked.

"Yeah, you know…" Chili taunted with his usual mischievous smile "…The one you looove!" he teased his troublesome eyes shining.

I ignored Chili's teasing. "Have you guys gotten any information lately?" I asked again, hoping for an actual answer.

"Yeah, actually, we did." Cress replied. "Didn't we, Chili?" He looked over at Chili, with the same mischievous glare in his eyes.

Chili laughed to himself. "Oh yes! Yes of course!" he stated obviously. Cilan looked at them confused.

"Just spit it out already!" I ordered.

"CILAN AND SARA WENT ON A DA-ATE!" Chili recited. Chili and Cress started laughing. I shot a look at Cilan only to see his face a bright red.

"Wha-What? No I didn't! _Pshhhh!_" Cilan lied. We all looked at him, Chili and Cress with troublesome looks, and me with slight anger.

"We saw you today, when you battled her." Cress stated. "The way you held her hand and looked at her…"

"And we watched you guys outside our window!" Chili exclaimed. "There was hand-holding and flirting and even a kiss on Sara's hand at the end!

I was getting really ticked off now. I know my dad found them amazing, but sometimes they can get really annoying. I looked over at them and saw Cilan stammering. I put my hand on his shoulder. He froze, and then slowly turned around and looked up at me.

My hair fell in front of my face. "Is it true, Cilan?" I asked darkly.

"Umm, well, you see, it was, umm…yeah." He admitted nervously.

"Why'd you do it?"

"The truth?"

"Yes."

"I did it so that you would get ticked off so that you would finally get the courage to umm, you know…get jealous and make a move." Cilan stammered.

"Plus, she was pretty" Cress filled in.

"Yes, she is very beautiful." I admitted. "Well Cilan, your plan worked. I'm heading off to Nacrene City so I can challenge the Gym Leader, then I'll wait for Sara there. Farewell!" I explained quickly and started to walk out the door.

"Cilan also did it so he could practice on Iris!" Chili finished. I turned around and saw Chili cheesily grinning and Cilan had focused on looking at the floor.

"Iris, eh? Isn't that…Opelucid City's Gym Leader?" I asked rhetorically. "Ah, we've got a little Romeo and Juliet here." I teased. Cilan just kept looking at the floor, his face red. His brothers were still laughing from the previous torture. "How funny. I best be leaving now." I said and walked out the door. I walked for a little while and then saw Sara's friend; Cheren?

"Hey, is that you Glasses?" I asked casually using his nickname.

"Glasses?" Cheren asked fixing his as we spoke. "Ah yes, Hilbert's arch nemesis, N."

"Hilbert? You mean Shorty? What did I ever do to him?" I asked.

"Oh, just jealously, my tall green haired friend." He replied. I guess I was tall, I realized that I had to look down on almost anyone I talked to. I guess at '6 4" that's what you have to do.

"It's with Princess, isn't it?" I guessed obviously.

"Who? Oh Sara. Yeah, but, May I ask why that nickname?" He countered.

"Isn't that what her name means?" I replied cooly.

"How would I know? And how would you know?"

"I was reading a magazine article about names."

"…Impressive." He stated. "Why did you take the time to look up her name?"

I didn't have an answer to that. "Why would Hilbert be jealous?" I asked changing the subject.

Cheren knew perfectly that I was trying to avoid his question, but he answered anyways.

"I think that Sara has a slight interest in you." Cheren smirked.

"Hmm…interesting." I said trying to hide my sly smile.

"I'm going to the Pokémon Gym. I'll see you around." He finished and walked away.

I continued walking towards Nacarene City. Sara… she still remembered me? Wow. Well, I guess because of that experience. Sara's not the problem though.

It was hiding my secrets from her friends Cheren, Hilbert, and most of all, Bianca. Bianca was the nosy one, who could somehow weave her way around things to finally get the answer out of you.

Now I have to deal with _two_ trios.

Her friends.

And my servants.

Bianca:*Gasps*

Melody: I know right? I love writing from N's POV.

Bianca: NOT THAT! Cheren has an evil side!

Melody: *sweatdrops* Yeah…

I get ideas some of my stories from:

Animes/TV/Movies

Manga/books

Fellow Authors

Friends & Family

Real life experiences

Fan art

Sara: Fan art?

Melody: Yep! Especially ones for shippings!

Sara: Fantastic.

Melody: If I'm plagiarizing, I did not mean to! Truly & Sincerely!

Please Review! :3


	7. A bad hair day

Melody:*Yawns* I couldn't sleep at all last night! There were police and helicopters hovering over our neighborhood and at one the police yelled something like this into his microphone: "Get out of the car, now!"

Hilbert: Nice neighborhood…

Melody: It usually isn't like that.

Cheren: Or, was it that plus the fact that you couldn't stop playing _Drawn to Life_?

"…"

Melody: Mari and Jowee are soooo cute! They're in total denial of their love! *cutesy pose*

*everyone sweatdrops."

Melody: Yeah, I try to spy on them as much as possible! Oh! Some of the scenes that they have together give me ideas for my stories! Especially for you, Sara and that special _someone_, nya!

Sara: I think the chocolate chip pancakes from breakfast still have an effect on her…

Bianca: Well, Melody always acts scatterbrained and weird like this.

Cheren: You're the one to talk Bianca.

Melody: Can someone get the Disclaimer?

Hilbert: NOT ME! I'M OUT!*runs out of room*

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, you guys know that Melody doesn't own Pokémon.

Sara's POV

"Hey, um you guys, can I explain why I need your help know?"

Bianca and I both turned around to see Fennel waiting impatiently for us to stop talking. I had totally forgotten that we were in Fennel's apartment room because she needed us to investigate something. Fennel was someone that Prof. Juniper had mentioned to us earlier.

"Sorry Fennel, it's just that things have been getting weird lately. I just want to know everything I can about it." I explained.

Fennel smiled at me. "You remind me of Aurea. She always wants to know everything; her curiosity is unstable!" She exclaimed nostalgically

I looked at Bianca only to see her shrug. "Is that a good thing? And who's Aurea?"

"Oh, I meant it as a good thing!" Fennel answered. "Also, Aurea is the very one who gave you your Pokémon and pokedex."

"Professor Juniper?" Bianca and I both yelled at the same time. "Well, when I think about it, Professor Juniper did mention you." Bianca said.

"She was my college friend!" Fennel beamed.

"Oh that's cool." I replied casually. Fennel and Bianca sweat dropped.

"My living is being an independent scientist, which was also my dream." Fennel said. "I'm invetegating a source called dream mist located in the Dream yard on the east of Straiton City. That's my friend, Amanita." Fennel paused and made a gesture to the girl dressed in blue. Amanita waved at us and we waved back. "She's helping me with my research; and she's been a great help since she's the maker of the PC." Fennel explained.

"PC? What's that?" Bianca asked confused.

"Didn't Aurea tell you about it?"

"Nope!"

"…"

Fennel laughed. "That's just like Aurea; too busy in her research to remember everything. Here, Amanita will tell you all about it."

Amanita walked us over to the PC next to the bed that was all hooked up with wires connecting to a strange machine behind the head of the bed.

"The PC is a device that you can use to store and withdraw your Pokémon! You can arrange them, and set them up in a certain order! You can even have a live video chat with Prof. Juniper to check on how much your pokedex is filled up, or with your family if they have a computer at home. The power of science is amazing!" Amanita exclaimed a little too enthusiastically.

'_My mom has a computer! We have a lot since my dad would work with computers a lot. We still have a lot of computers from him, but…'_

Bianca and I were both looking down at the floor; my emotion sadness, hers was guilt.

Fennel noticed this right away. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, umm… no, its fine it was a long time ago anyways, even before I moved here." I explained.

Bianca was more open and didn't hide anything. "Well, my dad really worries about me. He didn't even want me to come on this journey. I really don't know what I want from life. I've tried a lot of things, and so far I haven't liked any of them. But…this journey is different. I feel free, able to express myself. I don't have to constantly be under my dad's care." Bianca confessed. I had never seen or heard Bianca this serious.

No one knew what to say.

"What about you, Sara? Are you doing this journey for any reason?" Bianca asked curiously.

I pondered the question. _'Why for my dad, of course. Before he got sick, he would take me to the park to walk our Granbull. It looked tough, but it was really stubborn and had a peanut brain. We would make fun of the clueless Psyduck in the lake while our Granbull barked vigorously at them. But… once my dad was diagnosed to his liver disease, we had to give our Granbull away. It was just too much work. There were no more walks to the park or anything fun like that. The day finally came when he was going to get his liver transplant. He made it to the hospital on time, but soon died on the operating table. He always wanted me to do my best in whatever I did. He was my Hero.'_ I couldn't tell them that!

"Well, all of my friends were going so I wanted to try." I lied quickly.

Bianca peered closer at the PC. "What's 'Someone's PC?"

"Very good observation Bianca!" Fennel beamed. "That's the department where you put your Pokemon in!"

"Who's 'Someone'?"

"Amanita."

We all looked at the smiling girl who was fixing the machine. She stood up and adjusted her glasses. "Well, now since you know it's me, I can fix that 'Someone' and change it to 'Amanita'. She walked over to the PC and typed in a few keys.

"Anyways, Amanita needs my help with our research so I was wondering if you two could get some dream mist from the Dream yard for me." Fennel explained.

"Sure! Bianca and I would love to help!"

"Dream mist comes from a Pokémon named Munna who lives there. Oh, you're also going to need this to proceed into the Dream yard." Fennel handed us a disc that had the word 'cut' on it. "It teaches your Pokémon the move cut! You can use it as many times as you need. Good Luck!" She said quickly as our cue to head to the Dream yard.

Bianca put the CD in a slot her pokedex, and then she brought out her new Pokémon, Pansage. She scanned her Pokémon and the pokedex made a small beeping noise. The CD ejected and she handed it to me.

"Here. I taught my Pokémon cut. You can use it if your Pokémon are able to."

I gaped at her. "How did _you_ know how to do that?"

"Cheren taught me."

I finally knew how to tease Bianca; to get her back for all the teasing she gave me. "When? Oh! I Know when! It was when you guys were on your _date_."

Bianca blushed slightly, the countered: "Yeah, the same time you and _N_ were on yours!"She giggled.

I felt my face turn a bright red. "W-We weren't on a date!" I stammered defensively.

"Yeah, that totally explains the flirting and interaction you guys were having." Bianca retorted.

"…"

Bianca giggled. "I think you like him Sara!"

"W-What? No way!"

"Ye-ah." Bianca teased.

I paused. Bianca knew already, she just wanted me to admit it. She had used her technique of weaving around things; while Hilbert and Cheren were just straightforward.

"Fine; maybe a little." I admitted looking downward and closing my eyes.

"A little?" Bianca teased. We kept on walking until we reached a dead end and an opening that led to the Dream yard. The Dream yard was kind of like a forest, with pillars, platforms and stairs. We headed that way only to see a tree blocking our way.

"Pansage! Use cut!" Bianca beamed. Pansage popped out of his poke ball and cut down the miniature tree. We walked through the human-sized hole.

"Muuunn-a!" Bianca and I turned around to see a small pink circular Pokémon floating in the air. Its eyes were pink and it had purple flowers on it. Bianca and I both pulled out our pokedexes and scanned it.

"That's a Munna? It's soo cute!" Bianca squealed. She walked up closely to it. "It's ok Munna, we're your friends."

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" a voice rang out. "LIES! THEY AREN'T YOUR FRIENDS!" a different voice argued. Two people dressed in medieval knight outfits came out. They both were wearing bright orange wigs; the wigs were cut short, even on the girl.

Team Plasma.

"Who are you people? You look familiar…" Bianca pondered them.

"Bianca! That's Team Plasma! Remember from Accumula town?" I exclaimed.

The male member gasped. "Lizzie, that's the _Shakespeare_ girl!"

"Oh yeah! You're right Chris!" Lizzie exclaimed and pointed at me.

I felt my face turn red. "Is that how I'm known in Team Plasma?"(A/N: Refer to chp. 2 for details) I said to myself. Bianca was trying not to giggle.

"Pretty much, the lower ranks do; with the exception of Ghestis." Chris answered.

_Ghestis_…Ugh that guy! He was scary! He wore a huge robe with insignia's that didn't even make sense!

"What's Team Plasma doing here?" I asked

"What's _Shakespeare _girl doing here?" Lizzie countered.

"You first."

"No."

"I asked first!" I whined.

"Lizzie, I'll handle it." Chris told her. "We need Munna's Dream mist; If we use its dream mist, we can finally enter into people's dreams and convince them that Pokémon Liberation is the only option to finally separate the perfect Pokémon from the selfish trainers who abuse Pokémon!"

"Just _how_ are you going to do that? I mean, Munna's Dream mist doesn't even-!" Bianca stopped short because I covered her mouth. "Just what makes you think that you're going to take it?" I paraphrased.

"This." Chris said with a smirk. He turned towards the Munna and kicked it in the stomach.

"Muuun-!" It moaned. It fell to the ground and then slowly got back up again. Bianca gasped and I glared at them.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" I fumed.

"Oh, you didn't see? I'll show you again." Lizzie retorted sarcastically and kicked the Munna on the opposite side. I was near tears. "Give us that Dream Mist, Munna!" They ordered.

"You people _preach_ about separating Pokémon from humans who abuse them; there are people in this world like that, I understand. But there are also people like my friends and I who love Pokémon dearly, and the only reason we battle is so that we can communicate with each other. I don't understand. You say you want to make Pokémon perfect beings, and here _you_ are, kicking it! What do you have to say for yourself, _hypocrite_?" I cried out.

Neither of them said anything. Even Bianca was frozen.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." I interrupted. "How about we battle? I'll show you the bond between my Pokémon and you'll show me yours." I brought Oshawott's poke ball out of my backpack.

"Deal." Lizzie agreed. "Chris, you take the bubbly airhead and I'll take _Shakespeare_ girl."

"Eeek!" Bianca squealed. "We're actually going to battle them?"

Chris muttered something about Lizzie being bossy under his breath.

Lizzie and Chris both brought out identical Pokémon; Patrat.

"Go, Oshawott!" "Let's go, Tepig!"

I could tell that Bianca had gotten much better at Pokémon battling. She had definitely gained experience from the Gym Leader; she knew what moves to use at what time.

Team Plasma's Pokémon seemed…different. They didn't seem to obey every command that their trainers gave them. After a surprisingly short time, Bianca and I had defeated Team Plasma's Pokémon.

"Tell me one thing, is Ghestis your…leader? Or king? Or whatever you people call it?" I asked.

"Ghestis is the leader of the Seven Sages; they're kind of like the King's wisemen." Chris explained.

"Who's the King of Team Plasma?" I pressed.

"Chris! Why did you say that? Now they're going to ask questions!" Lizzie hissed.

"What is _this?_ We heard a voice hiss. We turned around to see none other than Ghestis standing there.

"Can you explain this failure to me?" He scolded.

"Umm, well, you see sir, um…" Chris stammered.

"Save your excuses for later!" Ghestis ordered, but from a different angle. We turned to our left to see another Ghetis.

"Two Ghetis's?" Lizzie gaped. As if it didn't get any weirder, both of them vanished into thin air.

"We better get back to HQ!" Lizzie ordered and pulled Chris away. She started to pass me, but then stopped.

"By any chance, is your name Sara?" She asked.

"Yeah, why?"

Lizzie paused for a second, and then stammered: "I-I heard about you on the TV."

I turned around to look at her. "Yep. That's me." I said looking into her hazel eyes.

Lizzie looked above my eyes at my hat. "Your hat…it looks just like-." Lizzie stopped short. Chris had given her a look that said 'Don't push it too far.'

"Like who's?" I asked curious.

"Like…_his."_ She replied, not talking about anyone in particular.

"Chris's?"

"No! Nevermind." Lizzie walked by briskly, sneakily grabbing my hat off of my head.

My hair flopped down beside me, going down to my lower back. My hat is what held my hair up in a ponytail; without it, I had…_hat hair._ The rest of my hair was wavy except for the part that the hat covered. It was frizzy and flat.

"Whoa. Talk about hat hair. How long have you had this thing on?" Lizzie mocked.

"I dunno…A few years…I started wearing hats when I was 13." I admitted truthfully. Bianca gasped. "Why do you want my hat though? Is it of any importance?"

Lizzie paused for a second as if she was hiding something. " Apparently to you; this is my revenge for you getting us in trouble with Ghestis. Adios!" Lizzie called out. She ran away dragging Chris along with her. I started to run after them but then I stopped. _'They're not important members…'_

"Sara!" Bianca shrieked. I looked at her, my hair blowing every which way; free. "Your hair looks cute like that, but you have to brush it, tease it, and all that other stuff."

"Teasing? What's that?" I asked but then focused on something else. I heard a new Pokémon cry from behind us where the two Ghestis's had been. A Pokémon that had a somewhat resemblance of Munna came out of the shade and came to the hurt Munna's side. I brought out my pokedex to scan it.

The bigger purple Pokémon was a Mushrana. I'm guessing that it was Munna's evolution. The Munna eventually floated back up.

'Sara! Bianca!" A voice rang out. We turned around to see Fennel running towards us.

"Hey Fennel. Is everything OK?" I asked.

"Sorry! I couldn't wait so I came over as fast as I c-Hey, is that Mushrana?" Fennel gaped.

"I think so…" Bianca replied.

'_Fennel's pretty scatterbrained; like Bianca.'_

"Did something happen? You guys look kind of hectic-SARA WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HAIR?" Fennel gaped, again. The Mushrana floated away startled from Fennel.

I sweatdropped. _She just now noticed?_

Bianca and I told her everything that happened.

"That makes sense." Fennel nodded. "You see, Mushrana evolves from Munna." Fennel started explaining. "So seeing Munna get harmed, it used its power-making dreams into a reality- to save Munna. Which means…wait a sec!" She exclaimed.

Fennel walked up to the Munna and started to examine it. Now that I realized it, Fennel's hair clip looks like the flowers on Munna's body! That's kind of cool.

"Is this…_ Dream mist?"_ Fennel asked herself examining a pink mist coming from Munna.

She turned to us and smiled. "With this, I can complete my research! You two, come to my room later, OK?" Fennel instructed. She grabbed some food out of her pocket. "Come on, Munna!"

"Hey! I want a Munna too!" Bianca pouted once Fennel left. Bianca then smiled as if she came up with an idea.

"I'm going to look for a Munna here!" Bianca beamed and then started walking around. "Munna! Come to Bianca Munna!"

Bianca….Oh well, I'm going to Fennel's room. I ran to the apartment building, as fast as I could so that no one could see my hat hair.

"Ta-da!" Fennel beamed. "Thanks to you and Bianca, I got some Dream mist that allows me to collect data on different trainers! Thank you very much!" She exclaimed quickly. "As a token of my appreciation, I will give you this C-gear!" She handed me a watch-like device. I looked at it, clearly confused and put in on my left wrist. "You see, there's an app on the C-gear called Game sync. In Game sync., the Dream Mist is used to collect the dreams of sleeping Pokémon! Amanita and I can collect data on trainers from _all_ over the world!"

'_That's kind of creepy…'_ I thought to myself.

"If you use Game sync to make a Pokémon sleep, it will have dreams! That's when you use the app named _Extralink._ The Extralink is a mysterious place in the center of Unova where dreams come true!" Fennel beamed.

"Sound like Disney land if you ask me…" I mumbled quietly to myself.

"Game sync. Is interesting, huh? If you would like to use it, please send me your info via C-gear under the app Email. I've summed up the details in the help menu on your C-gear, so please try it if you get a chance!"

"Ok." I replied impatiently.

"Well, I've got to get back to research! Thank you for your help!" Fennel said as she fed her new Munna.

I walked outside of the apartment and paused for a second. "I guess I can head to Nacarene City now."I sighed. Bianca told me that there were swap meets there on the weekend, so at least I can buy a new hat.

I walked until I reached a point where there was a fork in the road. I can either go straight, or go to my left. I was never good at making decisions like these.

"Sara!" I heard a familiar voice call out. I turned around to see Cheren running towards me.

"Hey Cheren! What's up?"

"You have a trio badge, right?" He asked.

"Trio Badge? Oh! The one that Cilan gave me! Yeah, I got it."

"I have one too."

"What's your point?"

"I challenge you to a battle to test my strength."

I sighed. "But I just battled Team Plasma!"I whined.

Cheren was persistent, just as Chili mentioned. "Go, Liepard!" He commanded. Liepard meowed as it popped out of the poke ball.

"Ugh, fine!" I moaned. "Go, Oshawott!" I yelled and tossed Oshawott's poke ball from the air.

Cheren had gotten a _ton_ better. I knew he was using some kind of technique, I just couldn't figure it out yet. After a while, his Leipard _finally_ fainted.

"Yes!" I beamed and jumped up. "Good job, Oshawott! Return!" I commanded.

"It's not over yet." Cheren pointed out dramatically. "Snivy! I choose you!" "Go Larvetsa!"

"Wait- a Larvesta? Where'd you catch that? They're extremely rare!" Cheren gaped.

"They were migrating, and this little guy was stuck in the fire!" I answered, proud of myself.

"A bug/fire type…that has double effect on Snivy!" Cheren exclaimed. Then I saw him crack a smirk.

"Hey Sara, remember N?" Cheren mocked.

"Not you too!" I moaned. "First its Bianca teasing me, now you?"

"Yeah. Anyways, I ran into him earlier today."

"Yeah, so?"

"He gave you a nickname." He teased.

I felt my face turn red. "S-so? He probably gave you a nickname too!"

Our Pokémon were looking from us, looking at each of us when it was our turn in the argument.

"He did; Bianca and Hilbert also. Mine was glasses, Hilbert's was Shorty, but he didn't mention Bianca's."

"What's my nickname?" I pleaded curiously.

"Why do you suddenly care so much?" Cheren smirked.

I immediately froze. "Just tell me-!"

"SNIVY, USE TAKLE!" Cheren interrupted. Snivy

"What the- you lied?"

"I never said I lied. I just distracted you, and it seems like it work-."

"LARVESTA, USE YOUR STRONGEST EMBER ATTACK EVER! SHOW NO MERCY!" I screamed. Larvesta did as told, since Snivy fainted one-hit KO. Cheren gaped at the scene. "SNIVY!"

"I swear to Arcues, boys are so immature." I taunted.

Cheren glared at me. "NO THEY'RE NOT! TAKE THAT BAAACK!" He pouted.

"And you're the most mature one in our group." I stated.

"But seriously, Sara, have you ever known me to lie?" He asked.

I thought for a while. It's true; Cheren's honest most of the time.

"No. So he really did give me a nickname?"

Cheren smirked. "Yeah, it's-."

"CHEREN, SARA!"

Cheren immediately turned around. He knew it was Bianca since he knew her practically all of his life. Plus, I could tell that the loved each other, but both of them were too stubborn to admit it. Bianca was with a little girl about 6 or 7 years old.

"Bianca, what's wrong?" Cheren asked and ran up to her.

Bianca was out of breath. "Team Plasma…stole this girl's Pokémon."

"NOT AGAIN!" I whined. "Is it the same ones that were at the Dream yard?"

Bianca panted. "No, they were both boys." Bianca was still kind of child-like; using the word _boys_.

"Ok come on Cheren. Bianca, you can watch the girl. Where did Team Plasma go?" I instructed.

"Right past you guys, into that cave." Bianca replied.

Cheren and I both sweat dropped. They probably passed us when we were arguing…

"Come on Cheren, let's go!" I ordered.

"I'll be right there; I want to ask Bianca some questions about Team Plasma."Cheren argued.

I knew that wasn't the reason. "OK. I'll meet you in front of the cave." I walked for a while, and then hid behind a tree, close enough so I could hear what Cheren was saying to Bianca.

"I heard that you were caught in that fire." Cheren said casually to Bianca.

"Yeah, if that ninja wasn't there to save me-."

"Ninja! What ninja?" Cheren yelled.

"There was this boy that was my age. He was a ninja! He saved me!" Bianca blushed slightly.

I could see Cheren getting furious.

"He had red eyes!" Bianca beamed.

Cheren's eyes widened. "J-Just don't be reckless like that anymore, ok?"

"OK."

The little girl looked at both of them curiously. "Are you the Prince and is she your Princess?"

Both Cheren and Bianca's faces turned red. I was trying my hardest not to laugh.

"Where'd you get that idea?" Cheren stated.

"My mommy read me a story about a prince and a princess that just got married." She replied innocently.

Bianca just froze. "Kid, you can't believe everything you read." Cheren put straightly.

"It's because the prince always worried about the princess, but the princess's daddy, the king, always worried about her too."

I couldn't resist my temptation."Awww!" I squealed out loud. All three of them turned towards the tree that I was hiding behind. I came out as if nothing had happened. I cleared my throat casually.

I crossed my arms and looked downward, closing my eyes. "I- was waiting for you, Cheren. Hurry up! They're going to get away!"

Cheren glared at me. "Cheren! Go help Sara!" Bianca told him. I smirked at Cheren.

"Did N really give me a nickname?" I asked, starting to blush.

"Yeah. It wasn't like any of ours though. Hilbert's was described by his physical features. Mine was by my physical features too, but I think also the fact that I'm always studying about something. I have a feeling that Bianca's was based on her personality."

"What about mine?" I whined impatiently.

We entered the cave. "You'll have to figure it out for yourself." Cheren taunted.

"Gah!" I moaned. I might never figure out what it even is!

"What's up with that new hair-do? Trying to fit in or something? Women, I swear-."

" SHUT UP, YOU SEXIST IDIOT!" I yelled. "Team Plasma took my hat! It's hat hair!"

"Why would Team Plasma take your hat?"

"Revenge."

"For what?"

"Getting them in trouble with Ghestsis."

"Is he the king?" Cheren asked.

"No actually he's the leader of the Seven Sages; they're like wisemen. The king still remains a mystery."

"Hmm. Looks like you did your homework, kid."

Two people came out of the shadows of the dark cave. Team Plasma members.

"Team Plasma!"

"I don't recall us stealing a girl's hat; but I do remember stealing a girl's Pokémon." The member taunted.

"No, no. Not you guys. Lizzie and Chris!" I said casually. Cheren gaped. "They were the ones at the Dream yard." I explained to Cheren.

"Ah yes! They were sent on that mission that our King assigned them! Our Kings motives are…interesting."

"Your 'King' told them to steal my hat?"

"No. That was Chris and Lizzie's fault."

"Yeah, but-!"

"Sara! Focus!" Cheren interrupted. "Why did you steal that girl's Pokémon? Isn't that what you're preaching to us _not_ to do?"

The man smirked. "Yes, but do really think that a child like you two could maintain having a Pokémon? It's just harming the Pokémon."

"Well, we're going to take it back!" Cheren threatened, taking out his poke ball. Cheren healed our Pokémon first.

"Sara. I know I've only known you for a little while, but Bianca and I have learned something from the ten years we've known each other. And-

"Oh of course you and Bianca had learned something _together!_" I teased.

"SARA! FOCUS! THIS IS NO TIME TO BE TEASING EACH OTHER!"

The quiet one of the Plasma goons murmured something in the noisy goon's ear. "Is Bianca that guy's girlfriend?" The noisy grunt shrugged. "Probably."

Cheren glared at them. "You people don't even know us!"

"Which is even more the reason to make fun of you."

I was trying my hardest yet again not to laugh.

"Anways, it's that friends are always there for each other." He replied hastily.

Both of the goons sent out one Liepard each.

"Oh a tag battle! Cool! Go Oshawott!" "Snivy, Go!"

Both of our Pokémon came out, ready to fight. "Oshawott, use water gun!" "Snivy! Vine whip!" Both of the Pokémon used great teamwork on cooperation. Yet again, Team Plasma's Pokémon were hesitant to listen to their owners. Team Plasma's Pokémon fainted.

"LONG LIVE TEAM PLASMAAA!" They announced in despair. Cheren and I were trying not to laugh.

"How could we get beaten by…_kids?_" The noisy goon exclaimed. "Fine. I'll give you that girl's Pokémon." He said and handed us a pink poke ball. "This isn't over!" The noisy goon yelled and walked out of the cave.

We ran over to Bianca and the little girl. "Here you go!" I said sweetly and handed her the poke ball.

"Thank you! I have a present for you!" She reached into her bag and handed me the same pink poke ball that she had. "Oh, and for the Prince and Princess too!" She exclaimed happily and handed Cheren and Bianca one. I tried to stifle a laugh.

Cheren ignored the girl. "These are heal balls…They heal the Pokémon's HP and any status conditions; burns, poison, sleep, and etc."

"That's so cool!" Bianca beamed.

"Thank you very much!" we all said.

"Anything for my Pokémon!" The girl squealed. "Bye-Bye!" She ran towards Straiton City.

Cheren, Bianca and I walked the short Route to Nacarene City. We were there in just a few minutes.

Nacarene City was a rural town. Since it was Saturday, there was tons of people selling stuff for the swap meet. There was a tiny coffee shop, warehouses, and even a museum.

"Oh! There's the Pokémon Center!" Cheren exclaimed and we all ran over.

"Here, Bianca." Cheren said and handed her four Oran Berries.

"Thanks Cheren!" Bianca squealed and hugged Cheren. His face turned a bright red. Bianca let go and went back to her bubbly airhead self; while Cheren was frozen.

I cleared my throat and crossed my arms. Cheren looked at me confused.

"Oh here Sara." He handed me three Oran Berries.

"Three? Why doe Bianca get four?" I pouted.

"I only have that much." Cheren replied cooly.

We were all about to walk into the Pokémon Center when we saw a familiar figure walk out.

"Hilbert?" I gaped. He turned around and gaped back.

"Sara? Bianca? Cheren? You caught up to me already?" He said shocked.

"Sara, what happened to your-!" He yelled, looking at my hair.

"Long story." I interrupted. Bianca started to tell him anyways.

"Hmm…That's strange." He replied after we healed out Pokémon. "Sorry to beak it to ya, but they don't sell hats here."

I tried not to scream. Then I took a deep breath. "Ok. I'll just have to confront Lizzie and Chris again."

"I'm going to look in the museum!" I beamed.

"Well, you do have an interest in science and history; they're your two favorite subjects, right?" Hilbert asked.

"Yep!"

"Let's all go! It might have those movies with the headphones!" Bianca beamed. We all sweat dropped.

"I don't mind." Cheren said.

"Count me in." Hilbert replied.

"Let's Go!" I beamed. We started walking into the museum, me in the front, when I bumped into a tall person. My face was at his chest.

"Oops! I'm so sorry!" I said, my face turning red from embarrassment.

"Nah, it was my fault any-wait…is that really you?" A familiar voice replied

I looked up at the person. No way!

"N?"

"Princess?"

Melody: CLIFFHANGER!

"…"

Melody: *starts laughing*

Everyone: ?

Melody: My sister is playing Animal Crossing Wild world DS, and her game froze! Now she has to talk to stupid Reseti! HAHA!

Everyone:…

Harmony: SHUT UP, MELODY!

Melody: That's my lil' sis people! Her name is fake too!

Harmony: Reseti won't leave me alone. I'm going to play Lovely Lisa.

Sara: Oh, what's that?

Melody: *freezes* NO PLEASE-

*girly music starts playing*

Bianca: Oooo! Cool music, Melody!

Melody: That's my sister's DS.

Hilbert: *trying not tolaugh*

Cheren: What's the objective of this game?

Melody: You dress up Lisa, put makeup on her, and put her in a fashion show. Lisa'svoice is abnormally high pitch!

Lisa: I'm going to charm school to become an elegant young lady!

Everyone: *laughs*

Melody: *scowls*

*A few minutes later*

Sara: Hey Harmony! Is that Lovely Lisa's boyfriend?

Harmony: Nope! It's her dad!

Sara:*freezes*

Hilbert: He looks like a freaking teenager!

Melody: You should see her real boyfriend

"…"

_At the contest hall in Lovely Lisa._

Lisa: I WON THE PLATINUM PRIZE!

Everyone: *sweatdrops*

Bianca: Whoa whoa whoa. Who's that guy saying that Lisa's pretty and amazing? Her dad?

Cheren: Have you been listening?

Melody: _That's_ her boyfriend. Chris.

"…"

Sara: He looks like he's 30…I'm going to make fun of Team Plasma's Chris about this.

_Please Review! And pray that Lovely Lisa doesn't take over the world!_ :3


	8. I Promise You

Melody: Wow, that last chapter was my longest.

Bianca: *draws*

Sara: Hey Bianca! What are you drawing?

Bianca: * holds up pic. And smiles* You and N in this chapter!

Sara: *blushes*Wha-

Hilbert: *rushes over* WHAAAT?

Cheren: Not bad.

Bianca: Thanks! I took a tutorial online on how to draw anime!

Harmony: Melody? Can you help me dress up Lovely Lisa?

Melody: Is that all you do all day? Play on the DS?

Harmony: Do you go on the computer all day?

Melody: N-NO! I read, and play basketball, and…yeah pretty much.

Sara: That drawing is actually pretty good.

Bianca: Well, since everyone is saying so, I'm going to submit it in an art contest that'll go live _all_ around the world!

Sara and Hilbert: NO! BIANCA!

Cheren: Time's ticking Bianca.

Bianca: *clicks key and enters drawing* Hmm? Did you guys say something?

Sara: *freezes*

Disclaimer: Melody doesn't own Pokémon.

Hilbert: You've been kind of quiet lately…

Disclaimer: You want me to appear more?

Hilbert: Nevermind…

_It was just Sara and I; the swap meet, all the people, even her friends didn't seem to matter; nothing else mattered when she was with me._

No particular POV

Sara's face was close on N's chest. Her hands were on his chest also, so they wouldn't fall over. They had literally 'ran in to each other'. Sara's face was bright red, and she felt her heart beat faster.

"Are you embarrassed or something?" N noticed.

"N-NO! I bet you your face is red too-!" She protested and looked up at him.

His face hadn't changed any colors. He was just smirking down at her, emotionless.

"F-fine. I was wrong." Sara admitted and took a step back from that awkward position.

Cheren, Bianca and Hilbert just stood to the side watching them. Sara's face was still red, and a smile had spread upon N's face.

"Why'd you call me Princess?" Sara asked confused.

"That's what your name means, right?" He answered quickly.

"Yeah, but I don't understand-."

Bianca gasped as if she came up with an idea. "Sara! Cheren, Hilbert and I are going to the coffee shop! Meet us there!"Bianca started to drag Hilbert and Cheren smirked at N then walked away.

"Bianca! Wha-!" Sara started, but then stopped, realizing that N was there.

As soon as Sara put her focus on N, Bianca dragged both of them behind some bushes nearby. Someone walked out of the coffee shop out onto the crowded streets. He noticed Sara and N then saw Sara's friends hiding behind the bushes nearby. He walked towards them and crouched down near them.

"Hey Cheren." He said.

Cheren turned around startled. "Cilan? What are you doing here?"

"Once a week starting now at 6:00, this café has a special. My brothers and I make our special tea here. What are you guys doing?"

"Sara literally 'ran into' N so Bianca came up with the brilliant idea of spying on them." Cheren explained.

"Well, it's really crowded on weekends here so I don't think that Sara and N going to notice us anytime soon. I'm on my break; would you mind if I joined you all on your…outing?"

"Not at all; the more the merrier, come on! They're starting to talk! Shhhh!"Bianca beamed. Hilbert scowled, ticked off.

N looked at Sara for a second, kind of confused. "What the Hell happened to your hair?"

"Wow N. Thank you very much. That makes me feel special." Sara replied sarcastically.

"No seriously, what happened?" N asked.

Sara sighed. "Team Plasma stole it for revenge."

"Really?" He said unzipping his backpack. "Then, how did I did I get it?" he asked pulling Sara's pink poke ball hat out and held it up.

Everyone except Cilan gasped. "My hat! How'd you get it? Plasma goons Chris and Lizzie took it!"

N paused for a second and frowned, as if he was somewhat hurt. "I found it…snagged on a tree branch."

Sara pondered this theory. "Ok. Can I have it back now?" She started to reach for it. N switched it for his hat and put it on his head.

"Ooooo…." Everyone behind the bush looked into the scene. Hilbert frowned, and then looked at Sara.

Sara tried to maintain her temper. "N. May. I. Please. have. My. Hat. Back?"

"Why are you talking like that?" He teased. "Fine, but close your eyes."

"Ugh, stupid childish games." Sara rolled her eyes and then closed them.

"What is she thinking? He might do something weird to her!" Hilbert hissed. Hilbert and Cilan had to hold him back. Bianca shushed them.

Sara felt a hat being put on her head. "There." N said. Sara beamed and looked up at N, and then frowned.

"If you're wearing my hat…then…"Sara grabbed the hat off of her head and looked at it. She held a black poke ball hat kind of like hers in her hand. This was- N's hat!

N was laughing at her, and then he took off my hat. _'She's extremely cute…she has no clue whatsoever about anything!'_

"N!" Sara yelled and threw his hat back at him. "Give me my hat back! How old are you? Eight?"

N caught the hat and frowned. "How hurtful; I'm well into 19." He stated, putting his hat back on his head.

"I know that!" Sara retorted but then covered her mouth.

"He got the wrong message." Cilan smirked, still holding Hilbert back.

N smirked. "I-I didn't mean it like that! It's just- you're so childish!" Sara argued.

"Uh-huh. And you're more mature then me, is that what you're saying?"

Everyone behind the bush gaped.

"Oh-ho. I just turned 16, and I'm _way_ more mature than you." Sara said, crossing her arms.

'_16? She looks older.'_ N thought to himself.

Sara started to reach for her hat, but N pulled it past his head. Sara's eyes widened. Sara had learned in, making their faces extremely close. Her chest was pressed against his, and their lips were only centimeters away.

Hilbert stopped squirming out of Cilan and Cheren's grasp. Everyone behind the bush froze.

Sara's face turned bright red, while N's smirk slightly changed into a smile. Sara backed away into her original position. She looked down at the floor, to the right.

"Just give me back my freaking hat back!" Sara whined.

"Fine. If you battle me."

"Ok."

Sara turned around and started to walk away, when she felt a pull on her hair. "Ow! I know your immature and all, but was that really necessary?" She snapped and turned around.

"Sara, your hair is… umm- stuck." N replied. Sara looked at N's chest to see that her hair had gotten stuck on N's stone necklace.

Cilan was trying not to laugh. Cheren and Bianca looked at each other, while Hilbert cursed something under his breath.

N and Sara were trying to untangle it.

"N! You just made it worse!"

"Did I? Well, I'm _sorry_ for not knowing anything about how women do anything."

"Sexist Immature kid." Sara muttered under her breath. She looked straight at him. His pale green eyes were focused on his necklace, and his tea green bangs fell in front of them. He was so tall, that he had to bend over to help Sara. Sara felt herself blush slightly. She went back to helping N untangle her hair.

They finally got her hair free. Sara beamed.

"Yes! I'll battle you know!" Sara said still grabbing onto his necklace. N moved the piece of hair that was entangled behind her ear. He looked straight into her eyes.

"N?" Sara asked, making sure if he was there. N started to slowly lean in.

Hilbert started to squirm even more.

'_Is he doing what I think he's doing?'_ Sara panicked. _'I never kissed anyone before! Sure, maybe a kiss on the cheek or that one that Cilan gave my on the hand, but not like this!'_

"N?"I said again. He ignored me and leaned closer.

'_What's this indescribable feeling whenever I'm with him? Happiness? Bliss? Relief? Trust? Comfort? Those are just some of them.'_

Bianca, Cilan, and Cheren leaned in closer to the scene. "Is he really going to do it?" "Is it happening already?" "Wow, strong move." Hilbert's face turned pale, and Cilan noticed.

"You guys…Hilbert's gone as white as a sheet." Cilan informed them. "I'm going to have to do the right thing , aren't I?" Cilan cupped his hands around his mouth

"No! Cilan! They're about to-!"

"HEY YOU'S TWO! GET A ROOM!" Cilan mocked in a New York accent. "Duck!" Cilan shoved Cheren and Bianca down. Bianca, Cheren, and Hilbert found it quite funny to their surprise.

N and Sara turned around toward the voice. It was crowded, so they couldn't tell where the voice came from.

' _I completely forgot that a bunch of other people are here! Whenever I'm with N, I get lost in time. The world disappears…What's this feeling? I'm relieved, but disappointed at the same time.' _Sara thought curiously to herself.

N scowled._ 'Only one person I know can do that good of a New York accent.'_

"S-So N, what's one of your reasons to become a Pokémon Trainer?" Sara asked curiously as if nothing had happened.

He turned towards her, his face serious. "I want to see things that no one else can see." He started.

Sara looked at him. _'His motives are interesting. How does he see this world?'_

"I want to find out the truth of Pokémon inside poke balls; the ideals of how trainers should treat their Pokémon; a future where Pokémon can become perfect beings. Don't you feel the same?"

I pondered the question for a moment. Before I could answer, some people wanted to get in and out of the museum. N and I moved aside. A few young teens and her friends were about to walk into the museum, when one of them looked over at N.

"Mary, that's N Harmonia!" The blonde girl muttered to the brown haired girl.

"Your last name's Harmonia?" N nodded. " That's…pretty." I admitted.

Meanwhile back at the bush, everyone was staring at N, confused. "N's famous?" Bianca gaped. She turned around to a booth that was near them, bought a teen magazine, and walked back.

"Bianca, what does that have to do with anything?" Cheren hissed.

Bianca flipped through the pages. "N has that 'look' that teenage girls like now-a-days. I wouldn't be surprised if he was in here." Bianca explained.

Chili and Cress cam stomping out of the restaurant. "CILAN! YOUR BREAK WAS OVER-!" Chili checked his watch "TEN MINUTES AGO? MAY YOU EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT HAPPENED?"

"I was spying on Sara and N with Bianca, Cheren and Hilbert." Cilan replied casually.

Chili and Cress looked at each other, shrugged and then sat down with them.

"What's happened so far?" Chili asked, looking at Sara and N.

Cilan told his brothers what had happened.

"Wow." Chili said. "And he says that _you_ have a Romeo and Juliet story going on." Cress nudged him in the ribcage. Chili moaned.

Cheren looked at the trio suspiciously. "You guys know N that well?"

"He's a childhood friend." Cress filled in quickly.

"FOUND HIM!" Bianca gasped. Everyone surrounded her, surprised that he would be in there. There were a few pictures of N, along with an article. Everyone turned back to the scene.

"No way Bunny!"Mary gasped. Mary tapped the other red-head on the shoulder. "Abby, look! That's N Harmonia!" Abby whipped her head around. N sweatdropped.

"Have we met?" N asked.

The girl nicknamed Bunny grabbed one of those teen magazines that Bianca read out of her purse and turned to a dog-eared page. _'She carries that around with her?'_ I asked myself.

"You're the mysterious guy that everyone's talking about!" Bunny exclaimed, holding the picture up to us. It showed a few pictures of him in Accumula Town. "Hey, who's she? She's not mentioned in this article!" She pointed at Sara.

Sara's face turned red. "Umm I'm h-his…"

"Girlfriend?" Mary filled in. "I'm surprised the paparazzi didn't get any pictures of them!" Abby exclaimed. "Maybe they did, but they wanted to get more pictures of them together before they publish it." Bunny said.

N and Sara looked around for people with cameras, startled to see if they were spying on them.

"Oh, you're so right Bunny!" Mary and Abby both exclaimed. "What happened to your hair?" Bunny asked Sara.

Sara's face turned red. "I usually wear a hat, but a sexist, immature, annoying childish someone won't give it back!"

"I told you if you battled me, you'd get it baaack!" N whined

"So, are you on a date with him?"Bunny asked.

"NO! I JUST RAN INTO HIM!"

"Have you seen him before?"

"JUST ONCE IN ACCUMULA TOWN!"

"So you guys have been out before?"

"NOT LIKE THAT! JUST AS FRIENDS!"

"Right…" The trio of teens replied.

The trio of Gym Leaders and Sara's friends were trying not to laugh out loud; again. "This is hilarious!"

Bunny brought out a sharpie from her purse. "Can I have your autograph?" She asked N.

"Umm…sure?" N replied. He signed Bunny's paper.

"Us too!" Her friends squealed. N did the same with them.

"Thank you! Bye!" They exclaimed and walked into the museum.

N faced Sara, his eyes shining with determination.

"I don't know, N." Sara continued where they had left off. "Ever since I started this journey, I wondered how the Pokémon felt about being inside poke balls. I was also hurt when I heard that some trainers abused them. I thought I was the only one who thought that way, that is, until I met you."

"Awww!" Bianca squealed. Everyone shushed her.

N smiled a smile that almost no one had seen on him before. "That's the truth?" He asked, a little shocked.

"Yes. Ever since I met you, I started thinking more about how the Pokémon feel. Especially earlier today at the dream yard when Team Plasma goons Chris and Lizzie were kicking a Munna for its Dream Mist."

"Team Plasma did that?" N fumed. I nodded sadly. The sun started to set, the sunlight shining brilliantly on the scene.

"If your words are true, I think me and my friends, my Pokémon, should test you to see if you can also envision this future." He said grabbing his poke ball.

'_N…he acted so immature, but he has this sense of kindness surrounding him." _Sara thought to herself.

"Ok." Sara smiled.

N sent out a bird Pokémon called a Pidove. Sara brought out her pokedex to scan it, and then she froze.

N had the saddest look on his face. "You too, huh?" He said sadly. "I expected more from you, Sara." He returned Pidove to its poke ball.

"No, N! It's not what you think!" Sara called out. He was starting to walk away. Sara stood in front of him and hugged him.

Everyone spying on them, even Hilbert, gasped. "What a twist!" "Oh My ARCEUS!" "…" "Tch. Romeo and Juliet; back atcha N!" "So shocking!" "What the-!"

"What are you-

"N. I understand how you feel. You care a lot about Pokémon. Trust me, I know. But Professor Juniper gave me this pokedex, she's the only reason I could go on this journey. I would've never met an amazing trainer like you. I never have, and I lived in Hoenn before I moved here. No one makes me feel the same way you make me feel."

"Professor Juniper? I don't know how she does it. She catalogs Pokémon in different areas depending on their strength, and-

Sara hugged N tighter. "Please, don't insult her. She's a good person. I swear to Arcues."

"You're serious about all those things that you said about me?" N asked.

"…Yes. I promise you." Sara admitted in a serious tone.

N hugged Sara back. "No one's listened to my ideals; they've all pushed me away and told me just to be a normal kid."

"Really? Even your parents?"

N's eyes closed halfway. His eyes started to water. "Even them. I promise you, you're the only one." The hugged each other for a few seconds, Sara's face buried in his chest. Then N started to whisper something in Sara's ear:

"I cannot see the future yet…the world is still to be determined. Right now, I don't know if my ideals strong enough to save the Pokémon. Maybe I can't solve the equation that will change the world. But, I like how things are going now. I'll find a way though." N said tightening his grip on Sara.

"N." Sara mumbled. "Go ahead. Follow your dreams and ideals. You'll find your true and awesome future if you do that." Sara smiled.

"Thank you, my princess." N teased, as they let go of each other. They both laughed. He put Sara's hat gently on her head, and smoothed out her hair.

"Well, I should be heading to Castelia City." N said sadly. "Farewell!" He walked away. He cast Sara one last look, and then walked towards the forest ahead of him.

Everyone behind the bush ran up to Sara.

"Eeep! Sara that was so romantic!" Bianca squealed.

"BIANCA!" Everyone else who was behind the bush yelled at her.

"Wait, I thought you were at the coffee shop!" I retorted.

"And miss you and N together; alone?"Bianca giggled.

"Hey, Cilan, Chili and Cress! What are you guys doing here?" Sara exclaimed to the young Gym Leaders. '_They were watching me too?'_

"There's a special at this time here every week; we could even sneak you guys a tea or two." Chili replied.

"OK!" We all beamed.

"Bianca, were you guys really watching N and I?" Sara's face turned red.

"Yeah, my favorite part was either when he almost kissed you, or that hugging scene!" Bianca squealed.

"You're talking about it as if it were a movie." Sara sweat dropped.

'_I'm glad I have friends; wonderful loving friends._' Sara thought to herself, looking at her three friends from Nuvema Town, and the Straiton Trio.

'_What a day. The Gym Leaders, the Dream Yard and Fennel…and N.'_

Images of N flashed in Sara's mind. "I made him a promise. I have to keep it."

Melody: I'm sleepy.

Sara: Wow. A lot of romance already.

Melody: Yeah, I wanted to add a lot before the next time you encounter him. It's the huge event that everyone names after you and N as a couple. But, as many people know, it's pretty shocking to be in your position for that chapter, so I wanted you guys to have a totally cute fluffy sweet moment(s) before that major chapter.

Sara: Thanks Melody. I'm looking forward to it.

Melody: Trivia: At first, I wasn't going to add Chili Cress and Cilan, but they're cute so I did. I got ideas from some of the scenes from random Fan art, and I was listening to my ipod when a song came up that match perfectly with this chapter; 'I promise you' by Selena Gomez! I'm a huge fan of her. Look up her lyrics on google; pretty cool!

Harmony: Melody? Can you dress up Lisa?

Melody: *sighs*fine…

A few minutes later…

Lisa:*dressed in war makeup and wearing random clothes.* Yes! I won the Platinum prize!

Melody: What the-!

Harmony: Wow! Thanks Melody!

Lisa's boyfriend Chris: Lisa, I was watching you from the audience.

Melody: WHERE ELSE WOULD YOU BE WATCHING? BACKSTAGE, YOU STALKER? MARS? ANOTHER DIMENSION?

Everyone: *sweatdrops*

Chris: You looked beautiful today Lisa.

Melody: Yes she did, especially in war paint, a wedding veil, a punk rock outfit, and…_legwarmers?_

Chris: And you won the Platinum Prize! You're amazing Lisa!

Lisa: Thank you Chris!

Melody: Unbelievable.

_Please review! :3_


	9. A cup of tea to us with love

**Melody: Hey peoples!**

**Hilbert: Melody, I have a few questions for you…**

**Melody: I DIDN'T HIDE MY LITTLE SISTER'S LOVELY LISA GAME IN MY DRAWERS!**

**Harmony: *overhears* Aha! I knew you were hiding it!**

**Melody: Hilbert! It's all your fault! *pushes button to eject Harmony out of room***

***sighs***

**Melody: If any of you fans can guess how old my sister is first, I'll PM you spoilers, add you in my story, or stuff like that. It has to be one number! You can't go '1 2 3 4 5…' like that.**

**Bianca: Whoa…Harmony flew!**

**Melody:*locks door* what do you want, Hilbert?**

**Hilbert: I noticed that I seem to be in all the chapters that N was in.**

**Melody:*freezes* Yeah?**

**Hilbert: Why is that?**

**Melody: Because it's funny how you freak out for no apparent reason whenever they're together!*hints***

**Sara: I also noticed that whenever N and I are together,*blushes* it's always sunset.**

**Melody: More romantic. It won't be sunset the next time!**

***girly music starts playing***

**Melody:*whips head around* NOOO! WHO LET HER IN!**

**Harmony: *giggles* let's go shopping, Lisa!**

**Lisa: Yay! I get to go shopping!**

"…"

**Bianca: I think she came in when Cheren did…**

**Cheren: BIANCA!**

**Melody: CHER-ENNN!**

**Disclaimer: Melody doesn't own Pokémon or Lovely Lisa.**

"_Which one did you save from the fire? Was it Sara?"_

"_I thought that __all__ of us were done talking about it!"_

"_Just answer the question!"_

"_No, it was Bianca."_

Sara's POV

Chili, Cress, and Cilan got me and my friends some of the best seats in the café. As soon as he left, Bianca, Cheren and Hilbert rushed me with questions.

"What were you doing with N?" "Was it just me, or did you guys _almost_ kiss?" "What's Bianca's nickname?"

"EH? I THOUGHT YOU GUYS SAW!" I paniked. People started to stare at us.

"Well, we just want you to admit it." Bianca said.

"Why were the Gym Leaders watching?"

"Because they were curious…"

I pouted. Chili, Cress and Cilan brought back their signature tea for each of us. "Is something the matter?" Cilan asked politely.

Hilbert, Cheren, Bianca and I looked at each other.

"THEY'RE HARASING ME!" "I WAS ASKING HER ABOUT N!" "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'THEY'RE? IT WAS JUST BIANCA!" "WE'RE JUST WONDEREING!"

"Ah, my sincerest apologies." Cilan sympathized. He pulled up a chair and sat down with us. "You must have quite a taste of courage to be able to confess your feelings to N like that."

"WHHHAAAAT? STOP IT, ALL OF YOU!" I screamed. I felt my face turn extremely red. "And what do you mean by 'confessing my feelings'? I didn't tell him that I liked him or anything like that."

"So by saying that, you're basically saying that you _do_ like N.

I felt like I was going to explode. "NOT LIKE THAT! WHAT I MEANT WAS-!"

"You guys must have some kind of relationship." Chili winked and smiled his mischievous smile.

"Romance isn't like that for everyone. You're two are one of the lucky ones. Especially you, since a lot of girls like N." Cress agreed.

Cilan and Chili whipped they're heads around to look at their tall older brother.

"Skylaaa!" They both chanted.

"Oh, and as if you don't like a Gym Leader either!" Cress retorted to Cilan, His face slightly red.

"Then saying that, you admitted that you liked her." Cilan teased. Cress scowled at him.

"Oh yeah. Speaking of Gym Leaders, guess what, Cilan?" Chili recited.

"What have I done to deserve your torture?" Cilan sighed.

Chili just grinned from ear to ear. "I invited Iris to come to our restaurant on Monday!"

Cilan stood up abruptly from the table. "Chili! You know that we're closed on Mondays!" Cilan's face was a deep red.

"Which is why you two will be alone!" Chili exclaimed.

My friends and I were watching the brothers fight, back and forth. We all sweat dropped.

"What about you Chili? Don't you like anyone?"

Chili's face slightly turned red. "N-No. W-Why would you think that?"

"Well, your face turned red and you're stammering."Cilan countered and smirked.

"Whatever."

"SARA DOESN'T LIKE N!" Bianca squealed loudly. All of us turned around to look at her. People were starting to leave the cafe as soon as we started fighting.

"Bianca, seriously? Sara's favorite subject is science, and they _obviously_ have some chemistry going on!" Cheren gaped.

"Ah, Cheren and your stupid, stupid puns…" I shook my head.

"She LOOOOVE'S him!" Bianca teased.

"BIANCA!" I stammered.

"Nice one!" Chili exclaimed, and Bianca high-fived his hand.

Hilbert hadn't said anything at this point.

"But seriously Sara; you obviously have feelings for him." Cress stated. Hilbert's eyes widened as he said this.

I blushed, and closed my eyes, not making contact with anyone. "I-I don't believe so."

"Ah, so it's a mixed feelings sort of thing." Cilan answered in an understanding voice.

"Hey, do you guys know where the Pokémon Gym is?" I asked changing the subject.

"Yeah, it's inside the museum where you and N were on your date." Chili answered casually.

"OH WILL YOU GUYS STOP IT ALREADY!"

"I don't believe we'll be doing anything of the sort." Cilan mocked in his gentleman tone that was getting annoying after a while.

"N's motives are mysterious, even to Chili, Cilan and I; and he'sour childhood friend." Cress added.

"Yeah, I know. What's your point?"

"Even though he keeps things to himself, all of us know that he has interest in you; if you know what I mean." Chili teased.

I blushed. "I-I don't think so…" I focused on looking at my empty cup of tea.

Everyone had left the restaurant now, well, for all I could see.

"Hilbert, you haven't said anything." Cheren hinted. All of us looked at Hilbert.

"Umm…That's because…umm…" Hilbert stammered, starting to sound like Cilan when I first met him.

"I haven't come up with a good way to tease her! Yeah, that's it!"

"How'd he get your hat, though?" Hilbert asked.

"Remember, Team Plasma?"

"So, he's part of that stupid cosplay team?"

"He said he found it snagged on a tree branch." I started defending N for some reason.

"I think you guys would make a cute couple!" Bianca winked teasingly.

"WHAAAAT!" Hilbert and I both yelled. Everyone looked at Hilbert.

"I-isn't he about three; or even four, years older than you?" Hilbert covered.

"Yeah, that's _another_ reason why I got freaked out!" I panicked.

"Age is just a number." Cilan stated.

"Where the hell did you get that from?"

"Ah, he got it from his age difference with Iris." Cress teased.

"Oh, she's three years difference from you, too?" I beamed, somewhat relieved. We all waited eagerly for Cilan's answer.

"No, she's one and a half years younger."

No one said anything.

"THAT'S NOTHING!" We yelled. It was getting late.

"Even if we were, that's a huge difference. He's already an adult and I'm still a kid."I hated to admit that I had just turned 16; well, at least Bianca was younger.

We heard the tiny bell to the café's entrance ring."Cilan, is the café still open?" A woman asked.

"Lenora! What made you decide to come at this hour?" Cilan exclaimed.

A black woman with teal green eyes that matched her huge poofy hair came in. She was wearing a white blouse, a pink apron, and loose jeans. Her orange and yellow headband matched her orange flats.

"This is Lenora, the Gym Leader of this town." Cilan introduced. "Lenora, this is Sara, Hilbert, Bianca, and Cheren." He gestured to each one of us. "I believe they've come to challenge your Gym."

"Nice to meet you all." Lenora replied.

"Nice to meet you, Lenora." We all said with respect.

"Well, I was spending too much in my research again." She answered Cilan, sitting at our table.

"Research?" Hilbert asked.

"Lenora's also an Archaeologist." Cheren stated.

Cress came back from the kitchen with Lenora's tea.

"There's a stone that we just now found that came from the Relic Castle. It seems like just an ordinary stone, but it's very beautiful!" Lenora reached into the pocket of her apron. "See?" She showed us all.

As soon as she brought out that tiny pure white stone with beautiful curvatures, I felt somewhat connected to it.

"Wow, that's lovely!" Bianca agreed. Cheren looked at it, astonished.

"May I please touch it?" I asked, not knowing why.

Lenora looked at me, confused of my determination, but then smiled. "Sure, I'm pretty sure that it's just a plain old stone anyways."

"Me too!" Bianca beamed. We both touched it at the same time. Then, I started to get dizzy.

'_Not again!'_ I thought to myself. I blacked out, at least it seemed like I did. And then, I saw two figures in a dark castle room. The girl was crying, on her knees. The young man had a huge black figure standing behind him. I couldn't make out any words, but it seemed like the young man was feeling sorry for the girl.

I whipped my hand back from the stone. Bianca and Lenora looked at me confused.

"Are you ok?" Lenora looked at me concerned.

"Her face is as white as a sheet; just like Hilbert's when-…"

"Don't say it Cilan!" Hilbert snapped.

"Sara, did you have one of your visions again?" Bianca asked innocently.

Everyone leaned in as soon as Bianca mentioned that. "VISIONS?"

I sighed. "It's no big deal."

"When did you start having them?" "What was this one about?" "What was your first one about?" "Is this even your first one?" "How many have you had?" "Do you hear things, or just see things?"

"ONE AT A TIME!" Bianca screamed impatiently. At that point, everyone who was in the restaurant at this time left immediately.

"I started having them right after I put out the fire." I replied.

"What was it of?" Bianca quickly asked.

_What was it of? Did I forget?_

"Oh! I remember! It was of N and we were at some kind of city with bright lights!"

"Ahhhh! But of course!" Everyone except Lenora and Hilbert teased.

"Who's N?" Lenora asked.

"A Pokémon Trainer." "Sara's boyfriend." "Sara's crush." "N's a guy that likes Sara." "Our old friend." "A tall guy with green hair."

Lenora laughed to herself.

"OH WILL YOU GUYS STOP IT ALREADY?" I yelled out. "He's a Pokémon trainer with a different way of seeing Pokémon battles, and such."

"Ha! I was right!" Hilbert exclaimed and fist-pumped.

"Although, he could very well be any of them." Lenora continued casually.

"WHAAAAT!"

"Yeah, wasn't that the young man you were with outside the Gym?" Lenora asked innocently.

I sighed. "Yes, it was…" I admitted. _'I guess she saw it to; I mean, she is the Gym Leader of that Gym.'_

"How sweet!" Bianca squealed and interlaced her hands together in a girly way. "You and N will go on another da-ate in the future!"

"BI-AN-CA!"

"Hee hee!"

"Now, is there anything that could've triggered your vision?" Lenora asked.

'_What was I doing? It was right after I saved the Pokémon from the fire and…Oh!'_

"Umm, someone from the Pokémon News Channel did come and interview me."

"Wait, you said in the vison, it was a city?" Cheren asked.

"…Yeah, at least that's what it looked like."

"Were there a bunch of skyscrapers, or was it like a festival?"

"I remember seeing a fair."

"Your image was happening in Nimbasa City."

Bianca gasped. "You don't mean- the city with the most clothes shops?"

Everyone either sighed or sweat dropped. "Yes…"

"Have you had any other visions?" Lenora pressed as if she _was_ that person who interviewed me.

"Well, there was one with this ninja-cosplay kid with spiky white hair…" I explained the rest of the vision.

Cress and Cilan shot a look at Chili, while Lenora was still asking questions.

"Well, he was about Cheren or Cilan's height; since they're pretty much the same height; and he had green eyes kind of like Bianca and Cilan's eyes; since they both have bright green eyes."

Cilan looked at the floor guiltily while Chili and Cress glared at him.

"What a coincidence!" Bianca exclaimed. "That sounds _exactly_ like Cilan!"

Everyone looked at Cilan. "Yeah, but I don't think that Cilan's into cosplay. Right, Cilan?"

Everyone leaned in. "Y-yeah! Pshhhh! I'm _not_ into cosplay" Cilan stammered.

"…Anyways…" I told Lenora about the rest of my visions.

"You should use your ability to your advantage." Lenora advised.

"Ok. I'll try next time something important happens."

"But what did that stone have anything to do with Sara's vision?" Hilbert asked.

"I don't know, but maybe Sara should hold onto the stone."

The Straiton Trio seemed to be panicking. "Or, I can take care of it!" Cilan offered politely.

"Maybe N's the ninja!"Bianca beamed.

"Yeah, but N's like, 6' 4"."

"Oh."

"Oh well, I'm going to let Sara hold onto it to see if anything else comes up."Lenora handed me the stone. "It's getting late now. Feel free to challenge my Gym tomorrow." She walked out the door, writing…_notes?_

"WHAT TYPE OF POKEMON DOES LENORA USE?" We all asked Cheren quickly.

"Well, she uses-"

"Since she's an archaeologist, she must use ground types." Hilbert stated.

"I think she uses rock." I argued.

"Maybe she uses Psychic type." Bianca said innocently. Cheren face palmed. We all sweat dropped.

"Psychic type? Really?"I winced, scared to see Bianca explode again.

"May you explain your theory?" Cilan asked in that gentle voice that made almost any girl squeal; if he didn't use it repeatedly.

Bianca giggled. "Because she saw Sara with N! Duh! She probably used ASAP!"

"ESP BIANCA!" Cheren fumed and tried to keep his cool. "Lenora's a _normal_ type trainer. Not ground, rock, or…_psychic_."

"Well _sorry_ Mr. Know it All." Everyone was getting annoyed with his attitude and sarcasm.

"Sarcastic as usual." Cheren adjusted his glasses. "Well, we should be going now."

"Oh, you're the one to talk!" I retaliated and put my hands defiantly on my hips.

"I-I heard we can stay at the Pokémon Center!" Hilbert informed trying to break the tension.

"Let's goooo!" Bianca tried helping Hilbert break the tension.

Hilbert dragged Cheren and I out of the café. "Thank you guys for the tea! See ya around!"

The brothers waved back somewhat nervously, as if they were hiding something.

"Short tempered."

"Where'd you get that one from?"

"You know that we all saw you and N; that's just one example."

I wanted to strangle Cheren so bad. I guess we were too busy fighting to see that we had checked out a room in the Pokémon Center.

"I'm so glad this was free for trainers who have at least one Gym Badge." Bianca sighed and flopped down onto her bed. "I'm tired. Good night!"

"Bianca…"We all sweat dropped. "Well, I am tired. We stayed a long time in that café."

"Time passed by fast. We should go to sleep for the morning."

"I'm going to challenge the Gym first!" I exclaimed.

"Not fair! You've always been an early-riser!"

"Good night!"I ordered and turned off the lights.

_**The next morning…**_

Ha! They're still sleeping! I just got to take a shower, get ready, and go to the Gym!

It was 6:00 in the morning; I don't know why I always wake up so early. By the time I finished getting ready, it was 7:00. Still really early, and they were still sleeping!

I walked out of the hotel into the crisp morning air. Quite a few people were outside; I'm guessing for the swap meet since today is the last day until next weekend. I ran over to the museum where the Gym was and saw the man named Clyde standing in front of the entrance.

"Oh, you work here too?" I asked the kind man panting for air. "That must be hard work; going from Straiton City to here every day.

"Too?" The man asked confused. "Oh! You must be thinking of one of my cousins. You see, my seven cousins and I work at each of the eight Pokémon Gyms."

"Kind of like Nurse Joy an her relatives?" I remembered visiting them from different towns in Hoenn when I was on errands for my mom.

"…Sure."

"…"

"Can I challenge the Gym Leader?"

"Well, the Gym isn't open yet. It will be in a few minutes though."

I checked my watch. It was 7:05. I sat down on the steps and waited there for a few minutes, lost in thought; especially about yesterday.

'_No Sara! Focus on today! You got out before Cheren; and everyone else; mainly Cheren; now you just have to beat Lenora! Just hope that Cheren doesn't come out and-too late.'_

Cheren was walking out of the Pokémon Center near the apartments and town homes. He saw Clyde's cousin and me waiting on the stairs into the museum and ran over. It was 7:09.

"Is the Gym open yet?" I asked hastily.

"Al-most…"

"Look who's here." Cheren retorted competitively.

"Why didn't the Gym open earlier?"I muttered to myself. "Hey,_ Cheren."_

"Ok the Gym and museum are open."

"Yes!" Cheren and I rushed through the door when a man in a lab coat stopped us. "No running in the museum."

"Sorry…" I apologized. "Well, me and my…_friend_ wanted to-"

"Say no more! You want a tour of the museum!" The man beamed.

"Umm actually, we-

"Right this way!"

"Grr…"

"This…this is the skeleton of an unknown Pokémon; possibly from another region. We think it was on a journey around the world, and this! This is a-!"

"MAY WE CHALLENGE THE GYM?" We both asked annoyed.

The man sighed. "Everyone wants to challenge my wife, but no one seems to care about ancient history and science anymore…"

"Wait wait wait…Lenora's your wife?" Cheren asked shocked.

"Yes."

"I love science and history! It's just that my friend and I are competing to see who could challenge the Gym first."I explained feeling sorry for the man.

"Tell you what; in order to advance to Lenora, you have to solve her puzzle that she set up. The Gym is behind that door up those stairs in the back." He instructed, pointing to things every now and then.

"Thank you!" We said and bowed. "Ready, set-!"

"Wait!"

"Yes?"

"Aren't you the girl; Sara Whitela; who saved those Pokémon from the fire?"

I sighed. _'When are people going to stop asking about it?' _"Yep. That's me!"

"I'm Andrew Hawes; but people call me Dr. Hawes." He grabbed my hand and shook it. "My wife told me about you."

Fantastic.

"You can have visions?" He exclaimed pushing up his glasses.

"Yes! Yes I can! May I challenge the Gym now?"

"You're just like that kid they were talking about in the newspaper! What was his name now? Such a strange fellow…he had the most peculiar hair! It was long and kind of green-ish. Odd, isn't it?"

Cheren and I looked at each other. Cheren was smirking at me? Ugh, boys I swear to Arcues.

"I think Sara and I might know who you're talking about. I believe his name is N Harmonia."

"That's it! Such a strange name too. I heard he's quite famous with young girls; including our niece."

Cheren laughed at me. "I'm pretty sure that's him…"

"They just printed an article about him in the newspaper yesterday! I got it this morning, and turns out, he was right outside our museum! He challenged my wife, actually. He sure has interesting ideals, kind of like Team Plasma."He exclaimed innocently.

"Wait, yesterday; outside the Gym? They have an article with pictures?" Cheren teased. My face heated up.

"Yes, I can show you if you like."

"I would like to see. Thank you." The man walked away to get the newspaper from Cheren. I slugged Cheren in the shoulder.

"OW!"

"BAKA! WHAT THE H-!"

"SHHHH!"

"Here it is young man."

"Oh, look here! There are images of N in this article!" Cheren motioned to a huge article.

It showed a picture of me wearing N's hat and him wearing mine, where N was laughing at me. A little lower and smaller, it showed a picture when we were about to battle. N looked so sad…

"Where do people take these pictures from?"

"Ahhh. You are also mentioned in this article Miss Whitela." Lenora's husband said with a youthful smile.

'_Not only shown, but mentioned?'_ I grabbed the paper from the laughing Cheren and read the paragraph that mentioned me:

'_..This young girl shown above had been seen with N Harmonia before, in Accumula town. Sara Whitela was the one to save those poor Pokémon from the major fire. They seem to be more than just childhood friends; if they are; adding one more mysterious twist to N Harmonia…'_

"WHAAAAT?"

"Ah, to be young again." Hawes pondered.

"…" Don't know what to say to that…

The door opened and Bianca and Hilbert came in. "Hey! Wassup?" Hilbert beamed. He seemed to be in a good mood today. "Hey guys!" Bianca squealed just as happily.

"…Hi…"I moaned grumbliy.

"What 'cha got there Cheren?" Bianca asked curiously about the newspaper.

"NO-NOTHING! JUST-!"

"An article about N and Sara."

I slugged Cheren, once again, but a lot harder this time.

"OW!"

"MEH!" I stuck my tongue out at him. "BIG FAT BOOK-WORM BAKA!"

"I can't hit her because she's a girl." Cheren moaned and handed Bianca the newspaper.

Bianca smiled brightly at the newspaper. "OMG SARA!" I looked at her and sighed.

"You should wear your hair down more often."

"Really? That's all you have to say?"

"Yeah! N seems too like it that way!" She squealed innocently and jumped up. "Oh! That was the picture before you hugged him, and that was the one where you switched hats, and-Sara? Are you OK?"

"…"

"Sara?"

"!"

Hilbert and Cheren started to back away slowly.

"I know what'll cheer you up! A song!" Bianca announced.

"No, no Bianca-that's not necessary!" "Bianca, you should rest your voice for…battling the Gym Leader?"

Cheren looked at Hilbert. "Really?"

"Sorry man! It was all I could think of before-!"

"SARA AND N SITTING IN A TREE! K-I-S-!"

Cheren covered Bianca's mouth and pulled her out the door.

"Mmmph!"

"You ok?" Hilbert asked worriedly.

I sighed. "Yeah, I can't believe that I got tied into this…"

Hilbert put his hand on my shoulder, making me blush. "You'll be fine. Your friends are here with you."

"Hilbert, have you caught any new Pokémon?"

"No, but they've become a lot stronger since we last battled."

I smiled at him. He's so kind and loving to Pokémon; and to his friends and family…and caring and honest, and-

'_What am I thinking? Isn't my love life messed up enough? Stupid N…wait why am I calling him that? WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?'_

"H-Hey Hilbert! I want to battle you! I've become stronger! Let's go outside!"

"Why can't we just battle inside?"

"Remember what happened in my room? This is a museum."

"Right. I knew that…_pshhh!"_

We both laughed at each other. I haven't seen him in a while, and it was so nice to talk to him-I have to stop thinking like that.

Some young teenage girls walked by us whispering busily too each other.

"Is he your boyfriend?" One of the girly tweens asked.

Both of our faces went red. "Why do you care?" Hilbert snapped.

"Only because if you were, she would be cheating on you."

"What the hell are you saying?"

She rolled her eyes at me and Hilbert and grabbed her X-transceiver from her bag. She seemed to be going on some girly teenage site and showed us some pictures.

"Well, your with N Harmonia in these pictures, flirting, hugging, almost kissing-!"

"OH MY GOD DAMN ARCUES! HOW MANY PEOPLE FREAKING CARE ABOUT US? WE'RE JUST FRIENDS!"

"Uh-hu heard that one before."

I moved forward to strangle her but Hilbert blocked me.

"Look, can you people just leave us alone?"

The girl rolled her eyes and walked away, her two copycat friends following.

"Let's battle before anyone else gets suspicions." Hilbert suggested, bringing out his poke ball.

"Yeah, let's see what you GOT!" I brought out my poke ball in response.

"Let's go, Patrat!" "Go, Oshawott!"

"Oshawott, use water gun!"

"Patrat, dodge it and use bite!"

Wow! Battles are so intense! My Oshawott was getting pretty beat up, but it was fun anyways.

"Man, I forgot how much fun it is to battle with you." Hilbert said.

"And Cheren and Bianca." He covered up quickly.

"Oshawott, finish it off with tackle!"

"OSHAAAAWOTT!" Oshawott lurched forward and tackled Hilbert's rat Pokémon, knocking it out.

"YAY! GOOD JOB OSHAWOTT!" I scooped up my tiny otter Pokémon and hugged it.

"Aw, man! Nice try Patrat! It's not over yet, Sara! I still have my favorite starter Pokémon! Let's go, Pikachu!" He threw the poke ball forward and Pikachu popped out.

"Go, Larvesta!"

We both brought out our pokedexes to scan each other's rare Pokémon.

"HUH? Mine just has a big fat question mark on the freaking screen!"I started to hit my pokedex and I even threw it on the floor to see if it would work.

"Sara, remember Pikachu are from different regions? Our pokedexes don't recognize it." Hilbert sweat dropped.

"Which is why I was…_testing_ you too see if…you knew that! Yeah! Turns out you did…"

Hilbert smiled. "Ok. Pikachu, use thunderbolt!"

"Oh crap."

"PI-KA-CHUUUUU!" Elecricity shot from its ears, tail, and round red cheeks.

"LARVEST-!" My Larvetsa flew back from the shot of electricity.

"Hang in there! Use leech life!" Larvesta shot out beams that surrounded Pikachu. The beams seemed to drain energy from Pikachu into my caterpillar Pokémon.

"Pikachu, use Volt-Tackle!" Hilbert commanded.

"Pika?"

"You do know that move, right?"

Pikachu looked up at Hilbert confused. "Just try it!"

"Larvesta, use ember!" Larvesta did a strong ember attack, leaving a burn status on Pikachu.

"HEY NO FAIR!"

"It's completely fair! There are no rules that say you can't! MEH!" I stuck my tongue out at Hilbert and then laughed.

"PIKACHU USE THUNDERBOLT AGAIN!" Hilbert fumed dramatically.

"PI-KA-!"

"Larvesta, just use dodge it and use leech life." I said relaxed. Larvesta did just as told, and knocked out Hilbert's Pikachu."

"What the-Pikachu!"

You're right Hilbert. You've become a lot stronger, but so have I. I FINALLY BEAT YOU!MWAHAHA! GOOD JOB, LARVESTA! RETURN!"

Hilbert sighed. "Pikachu, return."

Silence.

"Good job!" I beamed.

"You too."

"I'm going to the Pokémon Center to challenge Lenora. What are you going to do?" I asked him curiously.

"Probably once you're done, I'm going to challenge Lenora to a rematch. Her Pokémon are super strong, so be careful." He warned.

"Ok! See you later!" I waved at him and then went to the Pokémon Center, where a bunch of teenagers glared at me coldly, and then ran to the Museum. I double checked that I had plenty of potions.

I looked at the ancient fossils and saw this one platform near the entrance to the Gym. It was for a 'light stone' and had a picture of a tiny white stone.

'_Oh! That looks like the one that Lenora gave me!'_ I thought to myself and saw Cheren happily walking out of the Gym's entrance.

"Ha! I challenged her first, and I won!" He bragged and held up a new shiny Gym Badge.

I was actually really jealous. "Ok. Good job, Cheren!"

"That's right; I wo-wait, _what?"_

"I said 'Good job'!"

Cheren muttered something under his breath and walked out. "You're Welcome, Cheren!" I replied sarcastically to myself.

When I entered the Gym, I saw a huge room like a library with a lot of books.

Clyde's cousin came up to me and handed me a water bottle for my Pokémon.

"Thank you!"

He nodded back and then started to explain. "In this Gym, in order to proceed, you must answer the riddles. You can find the answer by finding notes in the books left by Lenora. She'll also give you hints to where the books are. The first question is…" He grabbed a paper from what seemed to be a raffle box. "How many types of loves are there?"

"What a timely question." I muttered to myself.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing!"

"The book is by C.S. Lewis, and someone is probably reading it near the back." Clyde read.

"So, I have to ask everyone in the back if they're reading this."

"That's what Lenora said."

…

"See ya'!" I ran off towards the back of the room and started to ask people. They all thought I was crazy, but I explained to them that I was challenging the Gym. One girl about 13 with pretty auburn hair came up to me.

"This book?" She asked and held up a book titled _'The four loves' _by C.S. Lewis.

"I'm pretty sure. May I please borrow it?" '_Ugh, my manners changed ever since I started this journey. Probably because of the way that Cilan talked.'_

"Sure!" She smiled and handed me the book. I quickly flipped through the pages and found a sticky note on the page that talked about love for Pokémon.

"Welcome challenger! As you know, in order to proceed in this Gym you must answer the riddles mentioned here. Ok, the next riddle is, 'For some I go too fast, for others, I go too slow. To most people, I'm an obsession. What am I?' To find this answer, you must trace your steps back to where you first started to find the book."

"Thank you! Hers your book back!" I walked back to the nearest bookcase to the entrance to the Gym. "Maybe, it's a car!"

The girl followed me. "Aren't you Sara Whitela? The one who-

"Yes, I'm the one who saved the Pokémon from the fire and so called 'N Harmonia's girlfriend'." I sighed annoyed. I guess I was getting used to it.

The girls eyes widened and sparkles surrounded her. "You're amazing! Why do you sound disappointed about being N's girlfriend? He's hot!"

I felt my face turn a deep red. "Look. We were _never_ together. People just love juicy gossip now-a-days." I said, grabbing a book called _'A wrinkle in time'_ by Madeline L'Engle. I soon found the Sticky note for the next riddle. The answer was time! Duh!

"But, what about the pictures?" She asked curiously, following me to where the note led.

"Those? Believe me, N's just…umm…" I didn't really have an answer to that now that I thought about that. She looked at me eagerly with her pretty blue eyes.

"Different." I replied, flipping through another book.

"In a good way, right? Oopsies! How rude of me! I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Violet Hawes!" She beamed.

"Oh what a pretty name! Wait, Hawes? Are you Dr. Hawes niece?" I asked.

"Yep! Did he mention me?" Her eyes shined pleadingly.

'_I heard N's quite famous with young girls; including our niece.'_

"…Yup. He mentioned you alright!" I said, walking to the sixth bookshelf. I grabbed the book and flipped through the pages. "Huh? No memo?" The bookshelf started to shake.

"Umm, Sara-sama?"

"Shhh! Hold on! I'm trying to find the memo!" I ordered gently. "Oh, you called me 'sama'? Thank you! I feel so special!"

"Doesn't N make you feel special though? I read that he's cool and mysterious, but he's really nice and gentle; especially to Pokémon and you. Oh, and by the way, that's the secret bookshelf. It reveals the stairways to Lenora."

I smiled at the discovery of the steps._ 'Just like Scooby-Doo.'_I sighed and went back to real life."Yeah, he's all of those things. I know he loves Pokémon dearly, but when did I get involved in this?"

"He said that you thought the same way as he did, but you were confused about the Pokémon. He felt the same way, which is another reason why he took a shine to you. He said he admired your love for Pokémon and how you see the world; all published last night." She quoted dreamily.

My eyes widened and I felt myself blush. "I wouldn't believe everything I read. Just don't worry about N and I." I started to walk down the stairs that led to Lenora. "Nice meeting you."

"Bye-bye Sara-sama!" she called out.

I walked down the spiral staircase to see a small room with bookshelves and a desk that Lenora was sitting at.

"Welcome Sara! Have you found out anything new with the stone?" Lenora greeted happily.

I shook my head. "No, sorry. But, I feel…I guess kind of Déjà vu-ish when I think about it."

"You can hold onto it. Something else might pop up."

"Thank you!"

"Well then Sara! I'm going to observe how you battle with the Pokémon you've so lovingly raised!" Lenora pulled a poke ball out of her apron.

'_Love…quite a confusing thing. And to think that I might be a step closer to understanding it…because of a late cup of tea and a researchers' niece.' _

**Melody: Finally! Sorry it took so long to update! A few things I would like to point out:**

**Cheren's Liepard is supposed to be a Purrlion *sweatdrops* oops…**

**And other stupid mistakes so I'm sorry! I got so many reviews! I feel so loved! :3 *dreamy***

_**Please keep reviewing!**_


	10. Life is like a maze

Melody: OMG! I JUST FINISHED PLAYING DRAWN TO LIFE! TAKE THAT WILFRE! MWAHAHA! The first and second! I'm feeling slightly mysterious…

Everyone: *sweatdrops*

Melody: But OMG the ending scene was so KAWAII! Well, for the first one. The ending for the second one SUCKED! I mean seriously, to think that-

Sara:*covers Melody's mouth*If you want to spoil it, you should just make another fanfic and change the ending you hated.

Melody: That's actually a really good idea! I don't know if people would read it though. Drawn to Life is a pretty old game considering all the new games. And the genres could be romance and adventure and action, and also-

Disclaimer: Melody doesn't own Pokémon or Drawn to Life.

Melody: I wish I diiid! Even Lovely Lisa, I would make aliens attack her hometown and sabotage her fashion show! The genres for that could be action, adventure, sci-fi, maybe romance because of the Chris thing, comedy, drama to make it comedy-

Everyone:-And the story!

N's POV

(Meanwhile, while Sara was battling Lenora)

I flopped down onto my bed and sighed. I guess it was nice to be back in my room; it'll only be for a little while anyways…right?

"N-sama? Your father needs you right away."

I looked towards the door to see one of my two advisers standing there. "Oh, hey Anthea. Where's Concordia? And what does my dad need?" Concordia was my other adviser.

She curled her long pink hair. "I honestly don't know the answer to either of those, N-sama." She answered nervously.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it Anthea." I answered and walked down the long halls for a while until I reached the board room.

"Hey dad." I said casually and sat down in a chair and put my feet up on the table.

"My son, how has your adventure been?"

I'm surprised that's what he wanted to talk about. He usually had some crazy plan to come up with.

"It's fine." I lied and smiled. I didn't expect to meet _her_. An amazing Pokémon trainer who uses poke balls like many others, but she understood me, _unlike_ many others. It was an interesting feeling.

"Anything new?" He started to walk back and forth. He was suspecting something alright. He was just trying to find a way to get it out of me without going straightforward.

"Well, I met some new trainers and defeated the Gym Leader in Straiton City."

"Uh-huh. New trainers eh? You haven't gotten too acquainted with them, have you?"

Crap. He definitely knows something. I didn't know what to say.

"Nothing? Hmm. I should've expected something like this to happen." He grabbed a newspaper and passed it over to me. It showed an article on me, and…Sara…oh no, not Sara! I can't believe I let her get caught up into all of this!

"Why exactly are you acquainting with this girl? She is a major threat!"He pounded his fists on the table. I took my feet off and sat up.

"Don't you think this is going too far?"

"Too far? My son, it was you who wanted this in the first place, was it not?"

It was no use. Either way, he was going to win like he usually does. "We're rivals, nothing more." It hurt to say that for some reason. I don't know why. I don't know what I feel anymore.

"Really? It doesn't seem that way based on this article."

I read the article. I grimaced at what it said about us. My dad sure did know how to break me.

"My son, I know you and this girl are not childhood friends. Your only friends were Pokémon, correct?"

"Yes."

"I'll let you continue on your journey if you'll abide by one thing."

And now I had to do whatever he said. It was for the Pokémon; I had to do it for them; despite how evil and twisted my father's ways are.

"What is it?"

"Next time you see her…" He paused for a moment as if he was thinking of something, and then smirked.

"Break her heart. That's all I ask of you."

Sara's POV

"Larvesta, finish it off with leech life!" I pointed to Lenora's Herdier, the evolution of a Lilipup. Larvesta was getting beat up pretty badly, but I knew it would come through. My Pokémon are amazing like that.

"Yes! Good job as usual Larvesta! Return!" I summoned my tiny bug Pokémon back to me.

Lenora returned her Pokémon to its poke ball. "After that round, I'm starting to see what kind of trainer you are; but no matter tight the situation, I'll find a winning strategy. Go, Watchog!" Some kind of weasel popped out. It had large cheeks and its fur was a reddish-brown color, with yellow stripes on its body and long tail. My pokedex said that it was the evolution of a Patrat, the rat Pokémon that Hilbert has.

"Go,Oshawott!"

"Oshaaaa!"

"Watchog, use Retaliate!" The watchdog lunged forward at Oshawott, fast.

"Oshawott, dodge it and use water gun!" Oshawott couldn't dodge it in time, but he got in a pretty good water gun attack.

"Watchog, Hypnosis!" Watchog sent out a blurry beam towards Oshawott. Oshawott jumped up and dodged it and went in to tackle it. Oshawott caught me completely off guard.

"Tch-!" Watchog moaned and fell over. I must've been because Oshawott caught it off guard!

"YES! AWESOME JOB OSHAWOTT!" Oshawott jumped into my outstretched arms.

"My hypothesis about you was correct…you're not only talented; you're determined! I congratulate you!" She handed me a gym badge! It had gold outer lines and was filled in with a shiny purple color.

"Miss Lenora!" We heard someone running down the stairs; Violet Hawes.

"Violet, what's wrong?" I asked.

"There are some creepy _Shakespeare_ performers in the museum! They're threatening to steal some bones!"

"_Shakespeare _performers?" Lenora asked confused.

"Ha! I'm not the only one who thought that Team Plasma were performers from a _Shakespeare _play!" I beamed and fist pumped.

"TEAM PLASMA?"

"Oh Arcues Team Plasma!"I ran upstairs and into the museum to see about ten Team Plasma members.

"GIVE US THE SKULL AND NO ONE GETS HURT!"A familiar voice yelled. It was Chris from the Dream yard. He was standing next to Lizzie with some other grunts behind them. We all sweat dropped.

"He's trying to act like a tough thief from those movies…" I said loudly so that they could hear.

"BUT WE ARE THEIVES! WE ARE THREATINING TO-HEY EVERYBODY! IT'S SHAKESPEARE GIRL!" Chris pointed at me and all of the Plasma goons gasped. "ABORT MISSION!" 

Everyone from looked at me. "Its how I'm known in Team Plasma since I thought they were _Shakespheare_ performers when they had their rally in Accumula Town.

"Ooooh…"

"We can't abort the mission! You know better Chris!" Lizzie snapped."Ghestis's order, remember?"

"Ghestis told you to do this?" I gaped. "And just wondering, since I'm very curious, why are you two bossing everyone around?"

"SARA!" Everyone yelled. "Focus!"

"We're higher ranking grunts!" Lizzie snapped. "We're in charge of these rookies!"

"Right, that's what you are." I replied sarcastically. "What about Ghestis's orders? Doesn't your 'King' tell you what to do?" I put air quotes around the word King.

I could tell that Lizzie was getting ticked off. "Well, Lord-!" She was about to say his name when Chris covered her mouth. Her face turned a deep red.

"Be careful what you say, Lizzie!" Lizzie nodded to Chris's order and Chris let go of his grasp on her.

"Our King has been troubled lately so Ghestis took charge." Lizzie said her face still slightly red.

"Uh-huh. Sure…" I mumbled loudly. I knew exactly how to get the information out of certain people. But with Chris there, it's a lot harder.

"THAT'S IT!" Lizzie fumed. "EVERYONE, FOR TEAM PLASMA!"

"PLASMAAAAA!" Chris threw this object down onto the floor which must've triggered the smoke that traveled all around the museum.

We all started to cough. I couldn't see anything, I was even squinting and the smoke was just too thick.

Once the smoke cleared out, Team Plasma was well gone. So was the skull to that dragon Pokémon who supposedly flew around the world.

"Sorry for being curious…"I mumbled.

"It's alright; Curiosity is the spice of life; without it, life is bland." Lenora replied.

"That was Lenora's favorite exhibit…" Hawes moaned.

I face palmed. "Well that helps to say it right in front of her!" I snapped sarcastically. "Don't worry Lenora. I'll get the skull back!"

"You will? I think I know where they might've gone. Let me show you." Lenora said and walked out to the crowded streets.

"Good day Lenora. Find anything interesting lately?" We looked to see who was talking. It was a tall and lanky man with a full head of brown hair. He wore a long sleeve green shirt, a white undershirt, and a medium red scarf wrapped around his neck. He wore red, black, and green striped slacks with a belt that had a huge butterfly in the middle. His slacks matched his shoes, and the green looked much like his eyes.

"Well this is a surprise! Are you suffering from artists block again?" Lenora asked the strange man.

"Nah, just looking for a change of things."

"Sara! I would like you to meet Burgh. You may not have expected it, but he's Castelia City's Gym Leader! He's also a premier insect artist."

"Hi Burgh! Nice to meet you!" I held out my hand. He shook it and then looked at me for a while.

"Hey, are you the Sara that saved the Pokémon from the fire? You were mentioned in the newspaper many times; not just for the fire either!" Burgh gaped.

_Are you freaking kidding me? How many people know about me? _"Yup. That's me!"

"Pleasure to meet you." He said, and then looked at us."Hmm…you guys seem worried or something…seems kind of hectic. Anything happen?"

Lenora gaped. "_Anything happen?_ I'll tell you what happened! Team Plasma stole an exhibit!"

"Don't worry Lenora; I'll help you, remember?" I assured.

"We'll help too!"

I turned around and saw my friends. Cheren, Bianca, and Hilbert looked determined to help.

"Are these your friends?" Lenora asked.

"Yes, we decided to become trainers together."

"I'll help too." Burgh volunteered. "So, Sara; are you ready to catch some robbers?"

"Yeah!"

"I'll come with you guys!" Hilbert beamed.

"We can't have everyone go after them. Cheren, Bianca, and Hilbert; you stay here and guard the museum. Burgh, Sara and I will split up and search for Team Plasma." Lenora ordered.

Cheren and Bianca smiled mischievously at Hilbert. "Crap." Hilbert muttered underneath his breath.

"I think they went that-a-way!" Burgh exclaimed and pointed dramatically towards a forest.

We all sweat dropped. What a strange guy…

"Towards Pinwheel Forest?" Cheren asked.

"Yes! Let us goo!" Burgh replied again dramatically and walked fastly away towards the forest.

We walked for a little while until we reached a little clearing where trees blocked our view from what was ahead.

"This clearing leads to Pinwheel Forest. If they ran off, we might have some difficulties." Burgh led the way and we followed.

"Ok. Here's the plan. You see, there are two ways to Pinwheel Forest." Burgh explained.

_Crap. I hate mazes._

"Lenora, you should block the entrance just in case any Plasma Grunts were left behind. There's two roads; one of them goes straight and the other one is a long and confusing maze-like. I'll take the straight way! If they're not there, I'll block the exit! May you please take the windy path to check if Team Plasma is hiding there? If you're careful, you won't get lost. Let's do this!" He fist pumped.

"Of course I have to take the long, windy, confusing maze-like path." I mumbled sarcastically.

"What?"

"Oh nothing!" He walked towards the freaking easy way while I took the way that actually took effort!

Here we go.

Hilbert's POV

(Meanwhile while Sara was taking the long, windy, confusing maze-like path…)

"HILBERT! TELL SARA YOU LOOOVE HER ALREADY!"

"BIANCA! SHUT THE HELL UP!"

"Come on Hilbert, Bianca's right."

"WELL, OF COURSE YOU THINK SHE'S RIGHT CHEREN!" I retaliated. "What about you Cheren? When are you going to confess?"

Cheren scowled. "I…don't know what you're talking about."

Bianca looked at us confused. "What's Hilbert talking about?"

Cheren froze. "Busted!" I teased and slugged him in the shoulder.

"OW!"

"Cheren! Are you ok?" Bianca ran up to him and checked his shoulder.

"Nicely played." I teased and started to laugh at him.

"Cheren, if you like a girl you should tell her!" Bianca encouraged and jumped up and down.

"I think Bianca's got some pretty good advice there." I chuckled.

"Really?" She giggled happily to herself (gets pretty annoying after a while).

Cheren glared at me. "Or, maybe I should follow my own advice!"

"Yeah sure. Tell me how that works out."

"You should follow Bianca's advice too!"

"No one's ever wanted to listen to my advice before; moreover, fight over it!"Bianca squealed dreamily.

"I think we should go check on them." I replied hastily and started to walk away.

"Oh, of course you want to check on Sara!" Cheren retorted and Bianca giggled.

"Ok thanks. You two love birds have fun." I answered back and walked away.

"Who's Hilbert talking about?" Bianca whispered loudly.

Sara's POV

I had already run into two plasma grunts; and they had nothing! They were just distractions so that I couldn't get it! Ugh!

I looked up and saw a mini cliff with two Plasma grunts on top of it.

Chris and Lizzie.

How would I get up there though? Maybe I could climb my way up. I just had to find a spot. While I was looking around, I saw a hollow log that led right to Chris and Lizzie.

"I guess I have no other choice." I started to crawl my way through when I heard a rustling sound behind me. I slid back to where I had climbed up and pulled out Oshawott's poke ball.

I saw a few shadows creep along the trees and a few noises that I couldn't make out. Oshawott jumped out of its poke ball and shot a water gun attack from where the noise had been coming from.

A pink figure came out from behind the trees, soaked wet.

"OH MY ARCEUS! IT'S ADORABLE!" I squealed and brought out my pokedex.

The pokedex said that it was a Pokémon called Audino; a Pokémon that *touches others with the feelers on its ears, using the sound of their heartbeats to tell how they are feeling. It was a pink and cream colored Pokémon with bright blue eyes. Its ears were floppy and it had a fluffy pure white tail.

"_AUDIIIINO!"_ It squealed.

I looked back up at Team Plasma goons Lizzie and Chris and they were starting to walk away.

"Aw why? Sorry, I don't have time to catch you!" I started to run away but then looked into its sad blue eyes.

I got reeled in by its cuteness. "OH MY ARCUES I CAN'T JUST LEAVE YOU HERE!" Oshawott sweat dropped. "Don't fight this poke ball, ok?" I grabbed my heal ball that a little girl back in Straiton City gave me for saving her Pokémon from Team Plasma.

"_AUDI!"_

"Go, Poke ball!"I tossed my heal ball gently towards Audino and it summoned the Pokémon inside with a red beam. It shook three times.

'_Come on Audino! Don't fight it!'_

Sparkles surrounded the poke ball with a click. It was a successful catch. I picked up the poke ball quickly and climbed up the log.

"Stop right there! I know you two are the ones with the Dragon Skull!" I called out to them. They both froze in their tracks.

"Lizzie, we know that voice!" Chris hissed.

"No, dur!" Lizzie snapped back and faced me. "What makes you think you're going to get it back?"

"Oh, just me and my new friend." I pulled out Audino's poke ball.

Lizzie pulled out her poke ball but Chris held her wrist back. "She beat you last time."

"Yeah, what's your point? I'm going to beat her this time."

"I'm pretty sure she has more than one Pokémon. We only have one each. Are you catching on?"

Lizzie smiled. "Yeah. You're not getting the Dragon Skull back so easily! Sure you beat me, but what about both of us?"

"A'ight." I pulled out Larvesta's poke ball.

"What's up with the accent?"

"It sounds coo' OK? DON'T QUESTION THE ACCENT!" I used the accent in the word cool.

They both sweat dropped. "And I thought we were drawing too much attention to ourselves…"

"Let's go, Patrat!" They both sent out male Patrats…the same ones they had last time.

"So much for Team Pasma's ego; '_Release your Pokémon!'"_ I taunted.

"…What?" They fumed.

"Go, Audino and-!"

"Pikachu! Go!"

"_Pika!"_

I turned around to see who summoned the Pikachu. "Hilbert? I thought you were supposed to be guarding the Gym."

"You really think you can get the Dragon Skull back without help?"

"Thank you!"

Chris and Lizzie were paying close attention to us. "Ok, enough with the fluffy romantic moment just battle us already!"

We both glared at her. "Enough with people thinking that already! AUDINO, USE DOUBLE-SLAP!"

"PIKACHU, THUNDERBOLT!"

"Oh snap!"

I started to laugh hysterically at how many times Audino slapped Lizzie's Patrat. "HAHAHAHHAAAA! YEAH, GO AUDINO!"

Lizzie gaped. "What the-!"

"MEH!" I stuck my tongue out at her.

Audino kept slapping Patrat until it fainted.

"Yeah Audino! Return!"

Chris was trying his hardest not to laugh. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?" Lizzie snapped at him.

"Dude, your Patrat got KO'd by a girly Pokémon."

"HEY!" I snapped.

"First of all, I'm not a dude." Lizzie hissed. "Second of all, I would like to see _your_ Patrat go up against that crazy killer Pokémon!"

"Lizzie _come on!_ Crazy Killer Pokémon? It looks like a plush toy!" He gestured to my beaming Audino.

"I'm not done yet!" Lizzie scolded. "And third of all, your Patrat got KO'd by a tiny mouse!"

"What are you-…Oh." Chris turned around to see his Patrat fried from Pikachu's thunderbolt. His brown eyes widened. "PATRAT! WHY DID YOU LET THAT TINY RAT POKEMON BEAT YOU?"

"HEY!" Hilbert snapped.

"Give us back the Dragon Skull. That was out deal." I held out my hand.

Lizzie sighed and then handed it to me. "This is bad. Plasmabad." Chris moaned.

"Excuse me?"

"Plasmabad. It's a mixture of Team Plasma and bad."

"…"

"LONG LIVE TEAM PLASMAAAA!" The both scurried down the slope into a clearing.

"Let's follow them! We might find out something important!" I ran slid down the slope holding onto the skull tightly.

Hilbert and I both gaped. Chris and Lizzie were with an older man, seemingly begging for something. His robe almost looked like Ghestis's, except less flamboyant. He also wore a tall head piece with a round top. And he had two eyes, unlike Ghestis who had a red thingy over his left eye.

"How are you holding up, loyal subjects of the King?" the man asked.

"Not the best. You see, third of the seventh sage Gorm, two trainers have defeated us with and have taken the Dragon skull." They knelt on one knee to the man in reverence.

'_He's a Sage? I expected them to look more…delinquent; like the Plasma goons.'_

"It's of no importance." Gorm said. "According to our king's research, this is not the correct Pokémon. It has no resemblance whatsoever."

I decided to walk up to them. Gorm noticed me right away.

"Sara!" Hilbert hissed and then followed me.

"Are these the two meddlesome trainers that you speak of?"

"Yeah, that's them!"

"Sara! Are you kidding me?" Hilbert hissed.

"Nope."

"We will not allow anyone to disrupt our plans and simply get away with it. We will make it so that this doesn't happen anymore!" Gorm preached.

I brought out my poke ball, ready for anything.

"Sara! Are you crazy? This guy is probably super strong!" Hilbert snapped.

"So are we. We beat two Gym Leaders already." I argued.

"So? This guy might have the strength of the Champion!"

"Suit yourself." I shrugged. "Go-!"

"WHOOOOO!"

We both turned around to see Burgh running down the slope. _Burgh…_

"Hey guys? Guess what?" Burgh exclaimed.

"…What..." We both moaned.

"The bug Pokémon were getting all excited, so here I come and who do I spy with my little eye?" He put one hand on his hip and the other hand was pointing to his eye.

"…Who..."

"This important looking guy!" Burgh pointed dramatically to Gorm. Hilbert sweat dropped and I face palmed.

"Sara! Burgh! Hilbert!" We turned around to see Lenora walking down the slope. "Those other Team Plasma goons didn't have anything…who is this? The big boss behind Team Plasma?"

I face palmed again. "You guys…the 'big boss'…" I put air quotes around 'big boss'. "…A.K.A the King, still remains unknown to us. This guy, Gorm, is one of the Seven Sages."

They all looked at me astonished and confused.

"The Seven Sages are seven high ranking people in Team Plasma. They're kind of like the King's wisemen."

"She sounds like a computer." Lizzie mumbled to Chris.

"Since when did you become a 'Premium Member Team Plasma Fan'?" Hilbert mocked.

"Oh, Lizzie and Chris told me about back at the Dream yard; See? It's good to be curious!"

Gorm shot a glare at both of them. "At least we didn't reveal the King's identity! Especially to, as you sages call her, Juliet." Lizzie stammerd.

"Ok. How did I go from _Shakespeare_ girl to Juliet?"

"Oh, that's a secret to Team Plasma as well." Lizzie taunted.

I tried to ignore her. "And these are the Team Plasma goons, who tend to do the dirty work."

I could tell that Lizzie wanted to strangle me, but one of the Sages were there.

"She speaks the truth." Gorm said.

"Don't help me." I held up my hand to him.

"Ghestis is the leader of the Seven Sages. He will liberate Pokémon without words!" Gorm started to preach one of Team Plasma's long, pointless speeches.

I sighed and mumbled. "Not this again."

"The remainders of us have ordered the lower ranks to take Pokémon with full force. There are very little odds against us. To you, the Bug Pokémon user Burgh and the Normal Pokémon user Lenora…and…the _meddlesome_ trainers I say this, 'Know your enemies, know yourself, and know you need not fear the result of a hundred battles...' This time, we shall retreat quietly. Even though you are Gym Leaders, we will not tolerate any more interruptions from you. Even so, we will settle this someday. I hope your looking forward to the day as much as I am…" With that, he walked away with Chris and Lizzie following.

"They're a speedy bunch…" Lenora noted. "What are you going to do now Burgh? Are you going to chase them?"

"Well, we got back the stolen skull, but if we go after them, there's no telling what they might do. I think I'll be heading back to Castelia City." Burgh replied. "Well then, Sara. I'll be looking forward to your challenge at Castelia's Gym."

"You're the Gym Leader?" Hilbert gaped in shock.

"Yep."

"…I'll challenge you too." Hilbert finally said. He must've been excepting someone more…well, _normal_ to be the Gym Leader.

"I'm looking forward to it!" He said and walked away.

"Sara! You got the Dragon Skull!"

"Oh, here you go Lenora. And here's the stone you let me borrow." I pulled out the tiny stone out of my pocket.

"Thanks, but as a token of gratitude, you can keep the stone." Lenora took the Dragon Skull.

"Really? T-Thank you!" I exclaimed.

"Now, I must take the Dragon Skull back to the museum! See you! Take care of yourself!" She waved at us and then walked away.

Hilbert and I stood there for a while, shocked of what happened, and then walked back to Narcrene City to look for Cheren and Bianca.

We went inside the museum and saw Cheren looking at an exhibit.

"Hey Cheren! Where's Bianca?" I asked.

"She went to go challenge Lenora. She said that she's going to go shopping in the museum's gift shop afterwards."

"Ugh, that's like Bianca. Where's the gift shop?"

"Over there." He pointed to the right.

I ran over to the tiny room filled with souvenirs. It had shirts, books, rocks; even some rocks made into jewelry! I walked over to the necklaces. There was a necklace that was made of different colored yarns; gray, black, white, light green, and pink, delicately woven in a pattern. Apparently, it was made in another region, making it even more expensive.

"What 'cha looking at?" Hilbert peered over my shoulder.

"Oh, just a necklace. I mean, maybe I could super glue my stone to it, since it's really pretty… It's too expensive anyways."

Hilbert looked at the price tag and held the necklace for a while and then walked to the register.

"H-Here." He held up a tiny bag. "I-It wasn't that expensive." He stammered his face red.

"Thanks Hilbert!" I beamed.

"SARA!"

I looked over to see my bubbly airhead friend, Bianca jumping up and down in excitement.

"I won against Lenora! Yay!"

"Good job Bianca!" I high fived her hand.

"I want to go shopping now." Bianca crossed her arms and pouted.

"Aren't there shops in Nimbasa or Castelia City? Shouldn't you wait until then?"

Bianca paused for a moment, seeming to consider the offer. "Ok. We'll go tomorrow."

In our free room in the Pokémon center, Hilbert and I told Bianca and Cheren about Gorm. Believe it or not, Bianca was pretty handy when it came to doing her hair, makeup, sewing, and jewelry making. She easily attached my stone sturdily onto the necklace without drilling anything into it.

"Thank you Bianca!" I put the yarn necklace on; even if I was going to sleep.

"No problem! Hey Sara, wasn't something supposed to happen tomorrow?"

I thought for a while. "Monday? There was something…"

A light bulb switched on Hilbert's head. "Oh, didn't Chili say something about inviting someone named Iris over to their restaurant last night?"

"Yeah, that was it! Poor Cilan…"

We all laughed thinking about the brother's fight.

"Wait, remember one of your visions were in Castelia City?" Cheren reminded.

"Oh yeah! With the ninja!" Bianca beamed making Ninja-like movements with her hands.

"Yeah…I'm kind of freaked out know. I mean, some guy was trying to mug me, and then here comes a cosplay kid coming to my rescue. I think I've officially lost it." I sweat dropped and rubbed the back of my head.

Hilbert yawned. "We'll see. We're going to Castelia City tomorrow. We'll finally figure out if your visions are really something."

_The next morning, Monday…_

"Lalalala, Castelia City, known for its beauty stores, lalalala, Nimbasa City, known for its clothes shops…This is going to be so much fuuun~!"

Obviously, Bianca was in a good mood this morning. Cheren was already getting annoyed by her, Cheren and Hilbert were teasing each other about something again, and I was trying to get a conversation out of Bianca. It seemed to be a normal day so far.

"In order to get to Castelia City, we have to go through the Pinwheel Forest, which leads us to Skyarrow Bridge." Cheren pointed to a long blue line on the town map.

Bianca was leading the way. "Lalalalalalala! Bestest day ever~!"

"Is this a good idea?" I whispered to Hilbert.

"Now that I think about it, no."

We all reached some steep steps that we quickly climbed up.

"Whoa!" The view was amazing! You could see tall skyscrapers right across the bridge. Skyarrow Bridge was a blue color that spread across the horizon. There was an exhilirating freeway underneath with many cars and trucks zooming by.

Bianca was trying to contain her excitement. "YAAAAY!" She sprinted across the bridge, out of sight soon enough.

"Bianca!" Even though we couldn't see her anymore, we still ran in the direction she went. I kept a mean paste to Hilbert and Cheren, but Hilbert was keeping up well.

"Hmm? Where'd Cheren go?" I stopped and turned around. Hilbert almost ran into me. Maybe we weren't as close as I was with N, but it was close enough to make my face turn red.

"Oops, sorry Hilbert."

"S-Sorry Sara."

Despite the length of Skyarrow bridge, we were almost at the end, we just had to wait for Cheren. A few people came by until we saw Cheren. He wasn't even running!

"BAKA!" I yelled out to Cheren.

"Don't worry Sara, he's just LAZY!" Hilbert yelled out the last word louder than I had.

We made one last turn to the on the bridge and walked down the steps, entering Castelia City.

I felt different walking on the crowded streets of Castelia City. There were many high skyscrapers and many piers and streets, so it was easy to get lost. Cheren started walking hastily to the edge of the city.

"Cheren, what's this way?" I asked curiously.

"The Gym, of course. I must defeat Burgh to move on and become stronger." He stated matter-of-factly and pushed up his glasses.

"Ok, we'll come." Hilbert insisted.

We walked down a street with many crowded people. We all held onto each other so we wouldn't get separated. Cheren was about to enter the Gym when Burgh popped out of the doorway.

"Hey! You guys are the kids who helped get Lenora's Dragon skull back; Sara, Cheren and Hilbert!"

"Hey Burgh. We've come to challenge the Gym." Cheren requested.

"Well, sorry, but I can't challenge you right now. I was told that Team Plasma has stolen a girl's Pokémon at Prime Pier."

"We'll help you!" I linked my arms with Cheren and Hilbert.

"WHAT?"

"Thanks! They went that-a-way!" He led the way the same dramatic air around him that he had just yesterday.

We walked onto a pier with a huge cruise ship docked to the left; from the way that I was facing. There were no people there except two girls at the edge of the pier. One of the girls was crying and the other one was comforting her.

"Don't worry. We'll get your Pokémon back." The girl assured.

I looked at the crying girl, shocked in horror. Who knew that the roles in the act of real life could change?

"Bianca? Your Pokémon got stolen?" Life sure is a maze.

**Melody: Sorry****that I made a lot of mistakes in the last chapter. I'll do better from now on! I wanted to say something important…I guess it slipped my mind…Sorry!**

_**Please keep reviewing! Whoo! I hit double digits! :p**_


	11. Am I really that dense?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, and I get most of my information from ; my chapters tend to be long, but I take a longer time to update.**

Bianca's POV

Yay! I was in Castelia City! I was having so much fuuuuun~! But then, some Team Plasma meanies stole my Pokémon! Kill joys!; at least that's what Sara calls Cheren when we have fun.

At least a girl named Iris was there to support me. She had olive colored skin, big brown eyes, and poofy purple hair with cute hair accessories in them! She wore a really cute cream and pink colored dress with ribbons attached, white legging underneath, and some flats to match her dress.

"Don't worry! We'll get your Pokémon back!" Sara had assured me.

"Iris, did you see what direction the thief's went?" Burgh asked.

"Honestly, no. I came to help Bianca as soon as I heard her scream. I tried to look for them, but the city's so crowded and I got lost." Iris explained.

"It's ok Iris. You did everything you could.

"But that's sad! It's not right to just take people's Pokémon whenever you feel like it!"

"You know what? You're right. We'll get your Pokémon back don't worry!" Burgh fist pumped. "It's going to be a lot harder than you think though; finding one particular person is like finding a needle in a haystack."

"It's ok; let's do this for Bianca!" Sara exclaimed.

"Ok Iris, you stay here with Bianca. Everyone else come with me!" Burgh ordered.

"Ok. Hold on Burgh, I'll be right there." Sara told Burgh.

"Ok."

"You're Iris?" Sara pointed at Iris.

"Yup! That's her! Doesn't she sound familiar?" I squealed.

Sara's POV

"Bianca, can I talk to you for a sec.?" I motioned to Bianca for her to walk over to me.

"Okey! What is it?" She beamed.

"Iris is the one that Chili invited over to the restaurant for Cilan today!"

"Oooh! I knew I knew her from somewhere!" Bianca asked.

I walked over to Iris. "Umm, Iris? Do you by any chance know Chili, Cress, and Cilan?"

Iris blushed slightly. "Yeah. They're the Gym leaders of Straiton City."

"Have you met them?" I asked.

"Well, Chili invited me over for some 'Food Judging' thing for the Gym Leaders. Weird thing is that they want only one Gym Leader per day." Iris explained.

"Oh that is weird. Wait, you're a Gym Leader?"

"Yep, of Opelucid City!"

"You're so lucky that you get to try their food for free!" I played along.

"Oh Arceus! They invited me today! I might be late! I better call them." Iris pulled an X-transceiver out of her pink backpack and started to dial a number.

"Ok Bianca got to go get your Pokémon back!" I said and walked towards the Gym where I thought Burgh might be. Instead, I saw Burgh running crazily up and down the streets and Cheren and Hilbert trying to keep up. I ran up to them and followed Burgh.

Burgh gasped. "What if they went into the Gym?" Burgh ran to the edge of the city and up the street way. We followed him to a building across from his Gym. He was about to walk in when five Team Plasma goons blocked his way.

"This is definitely the place." He mumbled to us.

"How do we get in?" Hilbert mumbled back.

"Our only option would be to battle them." Cheren mumbled to all of us.

"Too late." Burgh said aloud as he saw me walking towards the Plasma goons.

"Excuse me. I need to get to my job. VIP coming through!" I said trying to push my way through.

One of the goons immediately blocked my way. "Nice try, _Juliet_."

"Man, why does everyone know who I am?" I muttered to myself. "What are you people blocking anyways?"

"C-certainly _not_ Ghestis, any of the other Seven Sages, or high ranking Plasma Grunts Chris and Lizzie!" The main goon stammered. His friend gave him a thumbs up, the girl kept texting someone on her X-transceiver, and the other goon sweat dropped. The goon who blocked me whacked him in the back of the head.

"OW!" The goon whined.

"Ok, I believe you."

"Really?"

"No. LET ME IN!"

Burgh, Cheren, and Hilbert rushed over to my aid. "I'll take these two. You guys take one each." Burgh ordered.

We thwarted Team Plasma's Pokémon with ease, even Burgh with two goons battling him.

"Let's go." Burgh escorted us inside as Bianca and Iris came running to go inside with us.

We went inside the lobby on the first floor. Chris and Lizzie were standing to the back at attention. Two Sages stood to the side of…_Ghestis._

"Hmmph. I thought it would be humorous to hide in front of a Pokémon Gym, but we were found out more quickly than I thought." A sage chuckled.

"My word, if it isn't Juliet, the trainer from Accumula town." Ghestis said in a way that sent shivers crawling down my spine.

"Oh that's _so_ very mature of you!"I retorted sarcastically "By the way, I have a name; it's Sara."

"Ah, and you think we wouldn't know that?" Ghestis smirked.

I froze. Ok, at first I thought they were just some wanna-be group; now, they know who I am? This is getting even creepier than I thought.

"So, what is the rule that Team Plasma abides by anyways, _Take what you want from people whenever you feel like it_?" Burgh mocked.

"Say what you will." Ghestis countered.

"Why did you create Team Plasma anyways?" I asked curiously.

"Is anyone familiar with the legend of the founding Unova region?"

"Me! I Am!" Iris's hand shot up. "Isn't it the one about the black and white dragon Pokémon, right?"

"Wha- Black and White dragon?"

"Sara, you've never heard it since you just moved here from the Hoenn region." Cheren explained.

"Indeed. The black dragon sought a hero who pursued his ideals to make a world full of fighting people. The black dragon shared his knowledge and strength with the hero and barred its fangs to whoever rebelled against them. Together, they brought unity to everyone who existed, and that was how Unova was created." He explained.

'_What a cool fairy tale!'_ I imagined it being in a story book of fairy tales.

Ghestis's eye (hence the red thingy) shined with determination, not the good kind that I saw in many other people's eyes; it was an evil kind. "We shall bring back the hero and the black dragon Pokémon to Unova once again! If we can win people's hearts, we can easily recreate the world that I-I mean, that Team Plasma, desires! MUAHAHAHA!"

Chris and Lizzie sweat dropped. "He's getting pumped up again…"

'_Wait a second…did he just cover up a 'mistake' he made? Isn't this Team Plasma's ambitions?_

"Just _how_ are you and your 'King', whoever that idiot is, going to do that?" I crossed my arms.

Ghestis looked over at me as if I was stupid. "My, you really _are_ more naïve and dense than I thought."

"Lord Ghestis, you aren't going to tell her now, are you?" Lizzie advised reverently. "Wouldn't it be more amusing the other way?"

Ghestis smirked. "Why, of course."

"WHAT ARE YOU FREAKING SAYING? I'M TIERD OF YOUR CRAPPY SECRETS!" I fumed.

Here in Castelia, we have a lot of different kinds of people. Everyone's ways of thinking and lifestyles here are majorly different. There's something about what you're saying I don't quite understand." Burgh started to cover what I had said earlier. _"_One thing we all have in common is that we love our Pokémon. Even meeting for the first time people can talk about Pokémon. For example, battles, Musicals, those are just a couple..."

Hilbert, Cheren, and I all gaped at Burgh. He was such a strange guy, yet he could preach such intelligent facts against them.

"Remember your speech at Accumula Town? You lead me to rethinking my relationship with my Pokémon. I thank you for that. At that time, I made a promise-I promised myself that I would dedicate myself to Pokémon even more strongly! What exactly _are_ you guys doing? Aren't you going to strengthen the bond between people and Pokémon even more?"

Ghestis chuckled to himself. "You are quite intelligent. I am fond of intelligent people, you see. You see, from every corner of the world, I have gathered knowledgeable people for our king's benefit. You could call them the Seven Sages. Very well! We will submit to your opinion and be on our way."

"I don't get it. Your king's ambitions are interesting; yes I understand that Pokémon are being abused, but is Pokémon liberation really the answer?" I called out.

Ghestis ignored me and gestured to Bianca. "Return her Pokémon!"

Chris tossed the poke ball over to Bianca and Bianca's Munna popped out.

"Munna! Are you ok? I missed you sooo much!" Bianca scooped up the round pink Pokémon and squeezed it tight. "Thank you!" Bianca beamed.

"Wait; _what_?" Iris gaped. "Let me get this straight; Team Plasma goons stole your Pokémon; we practically chased them around the whole city, Burgh just POWNED Ghestis in speech, we had to practically weave our way around to get your Munna; we did _all_ that and you thank them?" Iris used a lot of hand gestures from us to Team Plasma.

Team Plasma all scowled or glared at Iris.

"W-Well, I'm just glad I got my Munna back…" Bianca replied innocently.

"OK. I guess I understand that." Iris thought aloud.

"The bond between people and Pokémon can be very touching." Ghestis admitted. "No matter; in order to liberate Pokémon from foolish trainers, we will revive the legend of Unova. Doing that, we will captivate the hearts and minds of many people."

"Say what you will." I mocked in the same voice that Ghestis used earlier. My friends and Iris were trying not to laugh.

I felt Ghestis's ice cold glare set on me, even if my back was to him. I tried my hardest not to look at him.

I heard him chuckle to himself. "Farewell…"

The way he said that sounded strangely familiar. Somewhere in the back of my head…something triggered me, like a déjà vu moment, but I know that I've heard it somewhere before!

I moved to the side so that they could walk out. They gave us back Bianca's Pokémon, and I know that I would be seeing them again.

Ghestsis stopped in his tracks right when he was about to walk out the door.

"You are very blind. The answers to your questions are right in front of you." Ghestis mumbled. "You just need to open your eyes, and if that fails…" He paused and then smirked.

"I believe you'll find more than what you're looking for sometime soon."

**Melody: I ended this chapter short. Just because. *overhears Mom and Dad's conversation.***

**Mom: Wait, I made 7 biscuits…before Harmony woke up, each of us had one, which would leave four… There's 3 left… ALRIGHT, WHO ATE TWO?**

**Melody: That would be ME! *giggles***

**Mom: THAT'S IT! YOU ARE DEFINETLY WORKING OUT THIS WEEK!**

**Cast: *sweat drops***

**Melody: Tch- Love you too, Mom!**

_**Please keep reviewing!**_


	12. We're halfway there

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon and this is probably the only thing I'm going to put in the A/N right now unless it's after the story. **

**Melody: Ok the stories are probably going to be from Sara's POV, if not, then I'll do the thing that I usually do.**

**2****nd**** Disclaimer: I own Lizzie, Chris, Bunny, Mary, and Abby; but I don't own the new goons or new Trainer from Sinnoh that I'm introducing; Clan's Warrior let me borrow them like he's borrowing some of my characters. **

"_So you want us to just…lose on purpose?"_

"_Precisely."_

"_Then, we lure Sara into the amusement park?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Ok. Let's hope this works. For Team Plasma._

Sara's POV

After Ghestis walked out the door we all started to talk about what just happened.

"Ghestis acted like I knew something; I'm not that naïve and dense, am I?" I thought aloud.

Everyone stayed silent for a few seconds.

"Sara, I've only known you for a little while; and yes, you are very naïve and dense." Cheren stated in his know-it-all tone.

"CHEREN! WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?" I retorted, and then gasped. "Cheren, are you the king of Team Plasma?"

"WHAT?" Everyone gaped.

"Sorry, I'm just confused. I mean, for all we know, it could be anyone."

"Don't worry Sara. Ghestis is just an idiot." Hilbert assured.

"No, dur!" I countered. "But, it's not about that. Before he walked out the door he told me that the answers to my questions were right in front of me." A light bulb switched on in my head and I looked forward.

"Aha! Right in front of me! The elevator, duh!" I started to walk towards the elevator but Hilbert held me back.

"Sara, you're starting to act like Bianca." We all looked over at Bianca after Hilbert's compliment. She looked at us confused, and then waved at us.

"I'VE GONE INSANE! I MEAN, DID I REALLY THINK THAT I WAS HAVING VISIONS?"

Burgh and Iris looked at each other confused and then shrugged.

"I'll be at the Gym if you want to challenge me…" Burgh started backing away slowly and ran out the door.

"Well, let's find out." Hilbert said and dragged me out the door with everyone following.

"You said it was down a dark alley, right?" Cheren pressed.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Look here; a dark alley in Castelia City with a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop." Cheren described it exactly as it was in my vision. It looked exactly as it did in my vision.

"What are you crazy?" I hissed.

"Honestly; I don't know." Cheren replied cooly.

"WHAT THE-!"

"You even said so yourself. The vision might not even be true!" Cheren pressed.

"But what if it is?" I whined.

"Then the ninja will save you!" Bianca cut in.

"But what if that part isn't tru-!"

"Just go!" They all pushed me in and hid behind the wall.

I gulped and walked forward. Well, nothing's happening so far.

Scratch that. I felt someone come up behind me and grab me in a choke.

"Gah!" I was trying to breathe deeply but I couldn't. I even tried to squirm out of it. At least the cosplay kid will come, I hope.

"Just come with me, little girl."

I nodded not being able to do anything else. I couldn't reach for my poke ball; I just had to rely on my vision. Suddenly, I heard a thump, and then the man who attacked me moaned. I let go of me and I fell to the ground gasping for air.

I turned around, and sure enough the cosplay kid was there. It was weird seeing him in real life. His shaggy white wig and deep black clothes were mysterious, and his bright green eyes shined brilliantly. Now I knew that my visions were the real thing. He held is hand out to help me up and I took it.

He led me to a building that was apparently the police department. I looked inside.

"T-Thank you for-"

I turned around to look at him and he was gone. I had just turned around a second ago! Maybe he just got lost in the crowd.

"SARA!"

I saw all of my friends running towards me. "What happened?"

"Well, turns out my visions are the real thing." I sighed. "Well, I'll be challenging the Gym now…"

"Oh shoot!" Iris gasped. "I got to get to Accumula Town before my grandpa suspects something."

"Why would that be bad?"

"You see, my grandpa is very over-protective of me and only wants me going outside of Opelucid City for Gym Leader business." Iris explained.

"But when you think about it, technically it isn't 'Gym Leader business'." I teased.

Iris's face turned red and looked away trying not to make eye contact with anyone. "I-I should get going now. See ya' soon!" She tossed up a poke ball that contained a dragon Pokémon the colors of green and gray. We all pulled out our pokedexes.

_Fraxure: Since a broken tusk will not grow back, they diligently sharpen their tusks on river rocks after they've been fighting._

"Wow…"

Iris hopped on her Fraxure and rode it out of the city.

"AW lucky! I wish I had a Pokémon like that!" I moaned. "Oh well, see you guys later!"

"WAIT! SARA!" Bianca squealed.

"Yeah?"

"Can you go shopping with me?" She pleaded.

"Why can't you go with Cheren?" I laughed. I saw Cheren's face turn red.

"Oh please; to her girl shops? I'd rather die." Cheren retorted.

"We can arrange that." I teased with an evil smile on my face.

"WHA-!"

I laughed at him again. "I kid! I kid! So jumpy!" Bianca pulled me away to her jewelry shops. Bianca bought a few necklaces and earrings for herself.

Bianca saw me admiring some dangly Beautifly earrings made of glass. "Sara, don't you have pierced ears?"

"Yeah, but I haven't worn any in a while. Beautifly were one of my favorite Pokémon back in Hoenn!" I picked them up to look at the price. "Yikes! I can't get these! I have to save money for poke balls and potions."

We walked out the doors onto the crowded streets.

"Hey, Sara? Didn't Cheren say that one of your visions was in Nimbasa City? Hehe…with N?" Bianca giggled.

Heat quickly traveled to my cheeks. "Wha- Oh yeah." I smiled.

"Well, I got you some stuff for your hair and beauty stuff like that; since last time you said that you were having a bad hair day." Bianca squealed and held up a bag. "See, I bought them since your last vision came true!"

Usually, I would get furious at someone because they were teasing me; but Bianca meant it in a nice and innocent way.

"Thanks Bianca."

Cheren and Hilbert came over to us. "We both got the Insect badge." Hilbert held up a shiny green badge.

"Were we really taking that long?" I gasped.

"Well, that plus the fact that bug Pokémon aren't really a threat to me." Cheren pushed up his glasses.

"Ok! I'm going to challenge Burgh now!" I ran over to the Gym a few streets over.

Inside the Gym were colorful walls with paintings on them painted by Burgh himself; and occasional switches on the floor. What the weird thing was is that there were breaks in the wall, and there was a huge sticky wall of honey in between those breaks.

One of Clyde's relatives handed me a plastic suit of some sort. "You're going to need this if you don't want to get in a sticky mess."

"Umm…okayyy?" I slipped the suit over me. Burgh is as strange as I thought…

I walked forward and then figured out that it was a maze…Fantastic. I spent a long time getting lost and stepping on switches to unlock doors. I finally reached Burgh; luckily, I was untouched by the honey or else it wouldn't be a pretty scene.

"Ah, Sara! Thanks again for your help!" Burgh beamed.

"Oh, no problem!"

"Well, my Bug Pokémon are scurrying with excitement to battle you. Let's get to it! Go, Whirlipede!" He sent out a gray and purple bug that looked like the tire to a car.

"Let's go, Audino!" I tossed Audino's Heal Ball forward and brought out my pokedex to scan the unfamiliar Bug Pokémon.

_Whirlipede: Protected_ _by a hard shell, it spins its body like a wheel and crashes furiously into enemies._

Burgh used many status effecting move against Audino, but didn't effect it for long since Audino knew the move Refresh. It took a little longer than planned since it was only Audino's second battle.

"WHIRLIPEDE! NOOOO!" Burgh whined. "Snick! My switch was turned on!"

"…"

"Good job Audino! Return!"

"Let's go, Leavanny!"

"Go, Larvesta!"

_Leavanny: Upon finding a small Pokémon, it weaves clothing for it from leaves, using the cutters on its arms and sticky silk._

Leavanny was a Grass/Bug type Pokémon colored yellow and green. It had leaves by the back of its head and thin leaves as arms.

"Larvesta, use ember!" Ha, I knew it would be super effective since its grass _and _bug type.

"Leavanny, use string shot!" Leavanny couldn't fight anymore, despite the high training it must've gone through.

"Good try Leavanny, return."

"Yes! Larvesta, you did it again!"

"Dwebble, go!"

"Come on out, Oshawott!"

"_Ossshhhaaa!"_

_Dwebble: This Pokémon can easily melt holes in hard rocks with a liquid secreted from its mouth._

Dwebble looked like a cute orange crab with black beady eyes and a gray shell. It was in the rock/bug category.

"Dwebble, smack down!" Burgh ordered.

It hit Oshawott right on target. "Be careful Oshawott; use water gun!"

Dwebble flew back and almost fainted. "Is it time for me to crawl out of here? No way! I refuse to be squashed!" Burgh laughed.

I sweat dropped. And I thought that Cheren's puns were stupid…

"Dwebble; hang in there and use faint attack!"

"Oshawott, dodge it and finish it off with another water gun attack!"

"_Osshaaa-WOTT!" _One of Oshawott's strongest water attacks I have ever seen rushed forward at Burgh's Dwebble, finishing the match…

"Is it over? Has my muse abandoned me?" Burgh sighed.

"Yay! Oshawott! Good job!" I hugged Oshawott tight, but then something different started to happen. Oshawott's body started to shine.

"Oshawott?" I asked nervously.

"Your Pokémon, it's…evolving." Burgh explained.

"Really?"

I saw Oshawott's figure shifting slightly during the process. Sparkles surrounded my newly transformed Pokémon.

_Dewott: Strict training is how it learns its flowing double-scallop technique._ My pokedex also says that Dewott learned a new move-Razor Shell!

Dewott is an otter-like Pokémon that is light blue with a navy blue layer around its thighs that carries two scallops. It has four white whiskers and a platypus-like black tail and small black ears. Its figure and size looked like a Marshtomp my friend had back in Hoenn.

"You are very strong. You deserve this Insect badge."

"Thank you! Oh and I have a question." I asked.

"Yes?"

"What's the Gym Leader like in Nimbasa City?"

Burgh's face went slightly red. "U-Umm... Nimbasa City? Oh! Her name is Elesa, she uses electric type Pokémon, and we used to be childhood friends. Anything else?"

I giggled to myself. "Oh, that's fine! Thank youuu~!"

"Take care!"

I walked out the Gym and saw Bianca waiting for me.

"Hey Bianca. Where's Cheren and Hilbert?"

"They went to Nimbasa City." She answered.

"Isn't route 4 really long? And isn't it getting late?"

"I think soo, but we can stay here tonight! Here!" She handed me one of her shopping bags.

"What's this?" I peered inside the bag and looked at the unfamiliar items.

"Remember; with N? Don't you want to look you're best for him? You know… because your vision said that he would be in Nimbasa City. Heehee!" Bianca beamed.

I blushed and furiously then sighed. "Ok. Thank you. I'll get us a room to stay at and you can challenge Burgh."

"Okie-Dokie!" She squealed. "Wait one more thing." She handed me the rest of her shopping bags. "Could you take these to our room?"

I sighed as I took the bags and brought them up to the room into the Pokémon center.

First, I should heal my Pokémon and then I guess I could try some of that crap that Bianca bought me. I never really was into beauty stuff like this.

This is going to be interesting.

_**An hour later…**_

I guess Bianca's stuff wasn't that bad. A bit confusing, but not as crappy as I thought they would be.

I climbed onto the top bunk and flopped down onto my bed; waiting for Bianca. I started to examine the stone. Its curvatures were prettier than I thought.

Hmmm…no visions lately. I better not jinx that. I heard the door open.

"Hey Sara. I beat Burgh!" Bianca exclaimed.

"Cool! What took you so long?" I asked curiously.

"Weeell, I couldn't beat him the first time, so I tried again and won the second time! But then I got lost in Castelia city…"

I sighed in exasperation. "Ok, I'm tired; Good night."

"Nighty-Night!"

_**The next morning…**_

It was 8:30 in the morning; I would've gotten up earlier if Bianca wasn't with me. Anyways, the streets were already crowded! We finally got to the gate that leaded to route 4.

"Wait Sara!"

"Yes Bianca?"

"Will you please battle me? I've gotten a lot stronger!" She pleaded and pulled out her poke ball.

"Ok. Go, Audino!"

"Gooo Lily!"

Lily wasn't a Lillipup anymore. It had evolved into a Heridier.

"Oh my Arceus, Sara, that Audino is soooo cute~!" Bianca admired my Pokémon.

"Audino, use Secret Power!" Beams shot out of Audino's hands and flew out to the slightly bigger puppy.

"Heey! I wasn't ready!" Bianca whined.

"Are you ready now?"I asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Audino, Double-slap!"

"Eeeek! I won't let you get away with that! Heridier, use take down!"

That round was pretty average. I think Bianca's starting to gain confidence in herself.

"Nooo! Nice try Heridier, return! Go, Flamey!" Bianca twirled around and tossed forward a poke ball.

"You nicknamed your starter Pokémon?" I noted her tiny pig, Tepig.

"Yup!"

"Go, Dewott!" I tossed my poke ball forward.

"Whoa, your Pokémon changed?" Bianca gaped.

"Yeah, it's called evolving." I explained. "Dewott, use razor shell!" Dewott clasped its two shells and threw them towards Bianca's Tepig.

"Noo! Flamey! Please hang in there! I know I'm not a very strong Pokémon trainer like everyone else, but please!" Bianca called out.

Flamey staggered onto its four stubby feet. It was about to fall over until it started glowing and shifting shapes.

"Eh? Flamey?"

"Bianca; its evolving!" I exclaimed.

Tepig transformed into a pig-like Pokémon with two legs and two arms instead of four legs. Its colors were brown, orange, and yellow. It had sharp claws and sharp teeth as well.

_Pignite: When it's internal fire flares up, its movements grow sharper and faster. When it trouble, it emits smoke._

"Wow, cool!" Bianca squealed. "Oh, Flamey learned a new move!" Bianca pointed to her pokedex screen. "Flamey, use arm thrust!"

"Oshawott-I mean, Dewott! Dodge it and use water gun!" Flamey inflicted a lot of its damage from that move.

Bianca gasped. "That's a super effective move! Flamey! Return! Gooo Munna!"

"Good job, Dewott. Go, Larvesta!"

Who knew that bug types were super effective against physic types? I kept Larvesta in for Bianca's Pansage after it had defeated her Munna. Bianca was strong; she shouldn't say that she's not a strong trainer. I know that we've met a lot of new people already, but still. Maybe I should just encourage her more.

"Nice job Bianca." I said once the battle was over. She looked up at me shocked.

"R-Really?"

"Yeah. I think you're strong."

"But, I got my Pokémon stolen…and I can't beat you or Cheren or Hilbert." She looked down at the floor.

"That doesn't matter. At least you're nice to your Pokémon." I explained as I thought of Team Plasma goons Chris and Lizzie when they were kicking that poor Munna.

"I still don't think I'm strong." Bianca argued. "Let's go to the Pokémon Center to heal our Pokémon."

"Ok."

On the way through the crowded streets, we saw a tiny boy trying to sell some Pokémon.

"E-Excuse me! Would you like to buy one of my Emolga from my litter? They're only 100 poke dollars each." The boy stammered.

I took a closer look and noticed that the boy was dressed in tattered clothes. His face and hair were dirty.

"Oh! Sorry I spent all of my money yesterday!" Bianca moaned.

"Here." I handed the boy 200 poke dollars.

"Oh, this is too much." He handed me 100 dollars back.

I held his hand back. "I know what I did. Keep it."

"R-Really? T-Thank you!" He beamed and picked up a Pokémon from a box in front of him. This is a female Emolga. She's the oldest one."

I took the Pokémon from him and held it. "Take care!" I called out and walked away.

"Sara, I'm surprised you bought one! You could've caught one easily since you're super strong!" Bianca gasped as we walked into the Pokémon center.

"I know, but that little boy needed help. I felt bad." I said and scanned the squirrel-like Pokémon. It was black, white and yellow and absolutely ADORABLE!

_Emolga:_ _The energy made in its cheeks' electric pouches is stored inside its membranes and released while it is gliding._

I decided that since it could glide through the air at a good paste, that I wouldn't catch it in a poke ball. It could glide through the air while I walked.

Bianca bought a teen magazine again.

"Man, are you addicted to those?" I rolled my eyes and kept on walking.

"Sara! They mentioned you again!" Bianca squealed.

".Arcues. WHEN WILL THEY FREAKING BUG OFF?" I grabbed the magazine from Bianca.

It showed a picture of me and that cosplay kid yesterday. The article was titled: "Can you guess who the Ninja is?"

I talked about who I was and what happened to me yadda yadda yadda, and then on the next page it showed pictures of people who the paparazzi might've thought it was.

'_Since the rescuer's eyes were the only feature visible, we were able to match popular men who could've easily fit into this role._

_Burgh: Because he lives here in Castelia and he also has green eyes._

"Wow…" I sweat dropped. These people are desperate.

_Cilan: He was supposedly running an 'errand' yesterday._

_N Harmonia: He seems to make the most sense since he's had a couple of encounters with Sara Whitela, being so; he disguised himself and came to her rescue._

_These three all have green eyes matching to a T.'_

"WHAAAT?" I gaped. _Well, N's eyes are more of a pale green, but they are green so I can see why-_

I must've looked like a fool blushing madly at the article.

"Oh, and on the next page, they asked three random girls who they thought it was." Bianca beamed.

I frantically flipped to the next page. "EH? THOSE ARE THE GIRLS BACK IN NACRENE CITY!" There was a picture of the three young teens there; the girl nicknamed Bunny, Mary, and Abby.

Mary said: Burgh.

Abby said: Cilan.

Bunny said: N.

_Of course Bunny said N!_ I wanted to burn the newspaper so bad with Larvesta's ember attack.

Bianca took the magazine back from me. "Hey, N looks good in that surprise picture they took of him. Don't you agree? He was also in Castelia City!"

"…Let's go!" I stormed out the door.

"B-but…"

Before I noticed it, we were on Route 4. I heard that it was really long. What I didn't hear, is that it was a desert with constant sandstorms and noisy construction sites nearby. It was already 12:00; despite how early we had gotten up.

"Let's get lunch once we're in Nimbasa City." I suggested. "Hilbert and Cheren could join us!"

I saw Bianca blush. "I haven't really talked to Cheren that much lately."

Yup. Those two were totally in love with each other. "Don't worry! It'll be fun!" I assured. It took a while going through the desert especially since Bianca kept either getting distracted of lost in the sandstorm. It was also hard trudging through the sand. I never thought that people actually trudged.

By the time we reached pavement, it was already 12:55.

"Come on Bianca, Nimbasa City is up ahead!" We ran towards the gate into the city. Nimbasa city had many fun things to do from the way that I saw it. There was the famous Battle Subway that Hilbert was always talking about, an amusement park, a sports stadium, and even fair activities!

"Please, don't harm me!" An old man pleaded.

"You better give us your Pokémon!" A familiar voice ordered.

It was Lizzie, with Chris, of course; but there were some new faces with them. The two new Plasma grunts wore the same Plasma uniforms as Chris and Lizzie, but without the stupid wig. The girl was a red-head and was the same height as me with teary blue eyes and freckles; completing the innocent look. The other guy was about Hilbert's height and had jet-black hair. He had depressing gray eyes with an aura to match.

"Stop right there!" I yelled epically.

They all glared at me and the old man looked relieved.

"For the future of Pokémon and people, I'm at your service Nya~!" I beamed with a cute pose.

"Sara! This is no time to be quoting lines from Tokyo Mew Mew!"

I looked forward and saw Cheren and Hilbert on the other side of Team Plasma.

"Well, sorry Mr. Killjoy." I moaned.

"What a crew…" Chris noted.

"Oh, and look who's talking." I retaliated sourly.

"Pfff! Don't even bother reasoning with them!" The depressed goon retorted. "Besides, wouldn't you rather want to save your energy for the amusing part tonight?"

They all smirked. "Yeah…"

"THAT'S IT! I'M TIERD OF TEAM PLASMA'S STUPID SECRETS!" I yelled.

"Wow…Ghestsis is right. She _is_ really dense." The red head girl noted.

"Gah! Come on guys! Let's finish this! GO, DEWOTT!" I threw out my poke ball.

"Goooo Flamey~!" Bianca squealed.

"Let's go, Servine!" Cheren called out.

"Come on out, Pikachu!" Hilbert finished.

"Remember our plan guys, you know, from our King." Lizzie ordered.

"TEAM PLASMAAAA!"

The innocent looking girl was the one to battle me. She sent out an unfamiliar Pokémon that she called Flygon. It looked like a huge dragonfly with pink sunglasses. It was probably from another region since my pokedex couldn't recognize it.

"Dewott, use Razor Shell!" I commanded. My Emolga was squealing as if it were cheering for me.

The girl didn't say anything. She just stood there. After five turns of her not doing anything, I started to get suspicious.

"You _do_ know that we started the battle, right?" I asked sarcastically.

"Oh, we did?" She gaped. "I did not know that! You can go first." She gasped in an obvious tone, as if she were hiding something.

"Umm…Dewott, use water gun?"

"Oh no! Flygon! You tried your hardest! Return!" She returned her Pokémon.

"Yeah, tried your hardest at failing…" I muttered to myself.

My friends defeated all the other Plasma goons shortly after me.

"Oh, shoot!" They all gasped; weirdly at the same time.

"YAY! I BEAT THE CREEPY EMO GUY!" Binaca squealed.

"What?" He fumed.

"We will run away now." Chris said. I noticed that they were talking like robots.

"Pffft! We got beat by wanna-be trainers." The emo-like goon moaned.

"Oh, look who's talking." I retorted.

"Don't worry about them." The innocent looking girl put her hand on his shoulder.

"Let's hide in the amusement park." Lizzie ordered suspiciously.

"Not because our king told us to; but because we want to." Chris finished. "Come on Susan and Derek. Let's go." They ran into the amusement park towards the left.

"That was weird. They weren't even trying." Cheren noted.

"Yeah…"

"Thank you so much." The old man said. "I'm the owner of a Pokémon daycare near Straiton City. Feel free to drop your Pokémon off at anytime." He walked away.

"Let's eat lunch!" I beamed.

"I need to challenge the Gym leader to a rematch." Cheren turned around.

"Wait Cheren!" Bianca grabbed his shoulder. "Come on! You need to relax! And I bet you that you're hungry."

"But we're halfway there; if I beat Elesa, then I could move on." Cheren pushed up his glasses. His stomach growled loudly as if it were growling.

We all laughed at him. Even Cheren laughed a little. He looked at his Town map. "We've come long way." He said. I looked at the town map. Nuvema Town actually has a quote:

_The start of something big._

That's for sure. I guess I've already made enemies with Team Plasma.

After we got lunch, we decided to walk around and hang out together. We didn't go shopping like Bianca wanted to because Hilbert and Cheren would find it annoying. We did a lot of fair activities, rode on a few rides, and went to both of the sports center.

"Hilbert, where are we going next? It's your turn to choose." I asked curiously. It was already 5:00.

"I just need to adjust some things at my job." He looked back and smiled.

"Job?"

"Oh, Hilbert got a job at the Battle Subway." Cheren explained.

"You're going to blow off your journey for a job?" I asked as we walked into a building and down some stairs.

"No way! Just in case I don't know what I want to do after I'm done with my journey, I can live my dream job here!" He guided us to a hall with a bullet train. He went up to the attendant at the counter.

"Excuse me, is Brendon here? I need to adjust my schedule."

"I'm sorry, he just left." The woman said. "I don't know when he'll be back. He might've even left for his journey."

"Oh. Ok thanks."

"Who's Brendon?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, he's an awesome trainer from Sinnoh. He has some wicked Pokémon! That's all I really know about him. I think he's about our age though."

"Ok. Cool. What else did you want to do here?"

"Well, I wanted to take you guys to Anville Town, but it's too late now." Hilbert explained.

"I want to go to the Musical Theater~!" Bianca squealed in a sing-song tone.

"Ok. Let's go to that." We all walked to the colorful light up building. A man inside gave us a kit just in case we wanted to join a musical sometime in the future. We went upstairs so that we could get some good seats.

"Beyond this door are the seats, but I think that a crew like you should belong on the fabulous stage!" The man beamed.

"Okayyy maybe another time." We walked through and got front row seats. The musical started after what had seemed ages of waiting. It wasn't a musical of people though, it was of Pokémon!"

Three quarters into the show, Bianca fell asleep; her head fell on to Cheren's shoulder. His face turned a deep scarlet red.

I was trying my best not to laugh out loud in the show.

We walked out of the Theater talking and having fun. It was 7:00 and just getting dark. Well, it's not winter anymore.

"BIANCA! THERE YOU ARE! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU EVEN MADE IT THIS FAR YOUNG LADY!"

We turned around and saw Bianca's dad furiously yelling at her.

"Dad…"

"That's it!-"

"Noo! Dad wait! My Pokémon are super strong! And I have friends with me!" Bianca cried, her eyes getting watery.

"You left without my permission. We are going home right now young lady!" her dad boomed.

"Sweetie, you keep going on your journey." We turned around to see who had jumped in on our conversation.

She was really pretty; especially her ocean blue eyes! She was wearing shiny black leggings with a long yellow sleeveless shirt. The shirt was in a pattern where it showed her belly. She wore bright yellow high heels that matched her short blonde hair. She wore headphones as a headband with long cords going all the way below her knees.

"Who are you?" Bianca's dad fumed."This is family matters!"

"My name is Elesa. I'm this city's Gym Leader. I also happen to be a model."

_That was Elesa! I can see why Burgh has a thing for her…_

"You know, there are many people in this world. There are people whose way of thinking may be completely different from yours. Sometimes, this means you may get hurt; but it's important to keep trying, to learn about the differences between yourself and others... To learn that being different is OK; and you shouldn't worry. Trainers always have Pokémon at their side. Pokémon are wonderful. It's not only how cute they can be, but also how much you can depend on them..."

Bianca's father seemed to be considering for a moment. "Well, letting you continue your journey would be selfishness on your part." He said to Bianca. He took in a deep breath and sighed. "But, stopping you from traveling would be selfishness on mine."

"Dad…Thank you!" Bianca beamed.

"Cheren." Bianca's dad looked straight at Cheren.

"Y-Yes sir?"

"Please take care of my little girl. She's known you for a while, so I trust you."

"Yes sir!" Cheren replied maturely despite the fact that his face was red.

"Thank you." He said and walked away.

"I bet you that he was a trainer too; he's just worried. Being a parent must be hard…" Elesa muttered to herself.

"Was what I did unnecessary? You looked troubled, so I decided to help out."

"Thank you!" We all beamed.

"No problem; oh by the way, Cheren, these are your friends, correct?" She asked.

"Yes."

"You guys can come challenge my Gym if you want. I'll teach you about how hard a journey can get." She turned around and walked away.

"Sara!" Bianca exclaimed.

"Yes?"

"Your vision; remember?"

I sighed. "Yeah. Cheren, where am I supposed to go?"

"Past the fair activities into the amusement park." He stated.

"Well, I guess I'll be going."I walked past the lines and crowds. Once I had gotten further into the amusement park, I stopped.

_Maybe that other one was just a super creepy coincidence!_

I was about to turn around when something covered my eyes. Apparently, they were someone's hands. I have a feeling who it might be. Sure enough, that familiar smooth voice; the voice that had changed many things in my journey, poured out in that usual gentlemen-like yet childish tone.

"Hey Princess. Looks like we meet again."

**Melody: I stopped it there. As I mentioned before, I got Susan, Derek, and Brendon form my friend Clan's Warrior; no, I'm not ripping him off, we're borrowing each other's characters. You should read his Pokémon Black and White stories! They're from Brendon's POV; which is his own character.**

_**Reviews appreciated! Please!**_


	13. Polar Opposite

**Melody: Ha! Finally this chapter! I've been waiting for ages!**

**Sara: Why?**

**Melody: *grins evilly* you'll see…**

**Disclaimer: Melody doesn't own Pokémon. But she does own Haru and Akemo**

"_Do I really have to do that? That's just evil!"_

"_Do you want to save the Pokémon or not? This is what you wanted, correct?"_

"_Yeah, it's what I wanted but not this way. I guess I have no other choice."_

"_I don't care how you do it! Just make sure that it gets done soon! One more thing to remember. When she find out, make sure she knows that this was your doing; not mine. We can't risk giving away anymore secrets."_

Narrator's POV

"N? That is you, right?"

"No, this is the champion, Alder." He teased sarcastically and took his hand off of Sara's eyes. He was smiling at her, not his usual smirk, but a happy crooked smile.

Sara's Emolga snarled at him.

"It's ok Emolga; he's my friend."

"Hello there." N leaned into my Emolga.

_EMOL-! Translation: Hello yourself_

N laughed. "She's quite the cold one, eh?"

Emolga: _Wait, you can understand me?_

"Why, of course. I can understand Pokémon since they were my only friends."

_N…didn't have any human friends?_

Emolga:_ You're different. But there's something suspicious about you._

"What's she saying?" Sara asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing of importance. By the way, you're looking for Team Plasma, aren't you?"

"Team Plasma? What-" Then Sara remembered that she and her friends had 'defeated' them and then they ran into the amusement park.

"No, actually I came here to-!" Sara stopped short; she couldn't tell him that she came here because she knew that _he_ was here!

"I know where they went. Follow me." Luckily he interrupted Sara and grabbed her hand.

Sara blushed but just ignored the reaction. _He's just being nice, there's no way an older teen; scratch that, young adult could have those kinds of feelings for a kid like me._

"Wow!" She beamed looking at all the rides. N seemed to be focused on looking for Team Plasma.

He took Sara to the end of the park where some trees stood over them with the moonshine glistening beautifully on the spot. "Hmm…They're not here…"

"Where could they have gone?" Sara looked around, double checking that those sleazy paparazzi people weren't here.

"Hey! Let's ride the Ferris wheel to see if we can spot them!" N beamed in a childish way. "I love Ferris wheels…the circular motion…the mechanics…They're like a collection of elegant formula's…"

Sara couldn't help but giggling. He looked over at her confused. "Why, I've never heard it like that before! You say it so childishly, yet you use such big words…" She smiled at him. "… But, how will riding a Ferris wheel help us see them? It's super crowded here; and it would be hard to find them, even from above!"

N froze. "J-Just go on the freaking Ferris wheel with me." He turned around abruptly and walked Sara over to the window to buy tickets. Emolga squeal mischievously.

_Did I just see his face turn red; even just the slightest?_ Sara thought to herself.

The girl at the window looked only but 14. "Hello! Would you like to buy a ticket?" She beamed politely with an extremely cute smile. She was very petite with very long poofy blonde hair with pink Audino hair ribbons tied in. Her name tag said 'Haru'.

"Yes!" Sara replied and reached into her bag. N gently touched her shoulder. "I've got it." He replied and reached into his pocket.

Sara could tell by looking at the girl that she wanted to squeal in awe. "N Harmonia is just as charming as I heard!"

"You've heard of me?" N asked innocently in shock.

She gaped in the same expression. "Pretty much everyone has! And pretty much everyone is a fan of Nara!"

"Nara? Isn't that a city in some far away region?" Sara asked.

"NO!" She said. "Well, yes, but now it's a reference to you two as a couple! A mixture of N and Sara! Hehe! Two famous trainers; what more could you ask for?"

Sara blushed and stammered like a fool while N laughed to himself. "Isn't she cute?" He referred to Sara, making her face get even redder.

The girl giggled. "I reserved a special cart for you guys! Just give this receipt to the attendant by the entrance to the cart!"

"What do you mean by 'special' cart?" Sara asked curiously.

"Cart number seven! You'll see while you're on the cart!"

"Ok. Thank you!" N beamed. Sara noticed the girl blush slightly.

"Y-You're welcome! H-Have a nice day!"

"She was so sweet!" Sara said to herself. N smiled at her. They handed the ticket to a black haired boy named Akemo; he looked like he was the same age of Haru, and he was tall for his age.

"Cart seven, eh?" He examined the ticket and then chuckled. "That's just like Haru; believe me, whatever happens, she meant it out of kindness."

"Umm…ok." They replied confused and got into the cart. They heard Akemo chuckling to himself. Sara's Emolga wanted to wait outside.

"She doesn't like closed places." N explained.

"That must explain why she doesn't like poke balls!" Sara said to herself.

N frowned. "I don't think that any of my friends do."

They sat across from each other since it would've been a tight squeeze if they sat next to each other. It was awkward at first, having nothing to talk about, but they eventually got a conversation going.

"So Sara, most kids in Unova start their journeys at age 12. I couldn't help but notice that you and your friends aren't that age."

"Oh, I just came here from Hoenn and-!"

N's eyes widened. "Wow really? What's it like in Hoenn?"

Sara thought about it for a moment. "Well, Hoenn is like an island; it's pretty much half water and half land, considering that most of the routes are either by lakes, rivers, or even surfing and diving across the ocean! There are tons of Pokémon that you would never see here!"

N was leaning towards her in interest, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. I hadn't noticed that he was so close to me. "That's so cool!" He beamed excitedly.

_N's confusing…he was all cool and mysterious the first time we met, and now he's acting childish and innocent; polar opposites._ Sara looked at N while she thought this.

"Yeah, when I was little I would ride a submarine to visit towns across the sea with my mom and…dad…" She trailed off at the last part, remembering that just 5 years ago her dad died.

"Hmmm? Is something wrong?" N asked concerned, locking his eyes onto hers.

"Oh, it's nothing, it happened a long time ago anyways…" Sara could feel her eyes starting to water. She started to remember her dad's smile, and the last words he said to her, right before he went off to the hospital.

"_Sara, I need you to be strong. If I go, I'll wait for you; and if that does happen, take care of your mom. Follow your dreams; I know that you can accomplish them. I love you…"_

"You can trust me." N said still looking into her eyes.

Sara snapped back into reality and thought about it for a while. _I haven't even told any of my friends from Nuvema Town about my dad, and they never bothered to ask. I just met N; there's still something missing about him, but for some reason, I feel that I can trust him with this one particular secret._

"My dad died…from a liver disease…" A tear rolled slowly down her cheek. "D-Don't worry about it though! It happened a long time ago!"

He looked at her sympathetically, and then wrapped Sara into a sudden hug. N started to feel guilty, remembering his real mission:

"_Break her heart. That's all I ask of you."_

He released her from his grasp. "It sounds like you had fun back in Hoenn!"

"Yeah…Why did you leave on your Pokémon journey so late? You're already an adult." Sara asked.

"My dad never wanted me to have human contact with the outside world; my mom didn't want anything to do with my dad; since my mo left, it was all up to my dad what I did. I eventually convinced him that it was ok, so he let me on a few conditions." N explained.

Sara didn't want to get too nosy and ask what the conditions were. "Oh, ok. Well, I'm glad I you got to go on this journey!"

N smiled at her. "Yeah, me too. I wouldn't be here with you right now."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Ready Haru?" Akemi asked her in the control room.

"Yeah! Let's give them the most romantic time ever!" Haru beamed.

"Or most hilarious prank for us!" Akemo laughed and pushed a button.

"Hmm? Why'd the Ferris wheel stop?" Sara asked.

They heard the intercom turn on. Sara and N could hear Akemo laughing in the background.

"Excuse me attendants. Due to the technical difficulties, you may be up here for 10-25 minutes approximately. Thank you for your cooperation."

The intercom clicked off.

"Did you hear Akemo laughing in the Background?" Sara asked.

"I think so."

"Are Sara and N the only one in the Ferris wheel?" Akemo asked Haru.

"I hope…" Haru thought about the consequences if they got found out by their boss. "So, what should we do for the next 25 minutes?"

Akemo smiled. "Well, boss won't come back until another hour, so we could go to that new café."

Haru beamed. "Really? Ok!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Now we're going to be stuck here!" Sara panicked.

"Don't worry…" N assured her "…We can look for Team Plasma now." He stared out the square window next to him.

"Yeah." Sara replied somewhat disappointed. They searched for quite a while, occasionally exchanging dialogue.

"Hey N!"

"Yeah?"

"My Oshawott evolved!" Sara exclaimed. She wanted to do something other than talk about Team Plasma.

"Really? That's great! That Pokémon really loves you!" N exclaimed.

"Hey, you know how you said that you could talk to Pokémon?"

"Yes, it's because they were my only friends." N said. "You're Pokémon…I can't believe it could say such things…And you use poke balls…"

Sara ignored the last part. "What did he say?"

"It said-!"

The Ferris wheel cart suddenly lurched forward and sent Sara flying into N. They both remembered Akemo and Haru's word:

_Haru:_ "_I reserved a special cart for you guys!" "Cart number seven! You'll see once you're on the cart."_

_Akemo:"Cart seven, eh?"_ _"That's just like Haru; believe me, whatever happens, she meant it out of kindness."_

They both froze, not knowing what to do. They just stared into each other's eyes.

Sara was the first to snap back into reality. "U-Umm, I'll sit over here so that doesn't happen again." N let her sit by the window.

The intercom snapped back on. "We fixed the technical difficulties. Thank you for your cooperation." Haru stated and clicked off the intercom.

"Thanks for the hot cocoa!" Haru beamed.

"Ah, it's nothing!" Akemo winked at her.

Sara stared off into the starry horizon. "Wow! The stars are beautiful!" She exclaimed. N put his hand on the window, trying to put his arm around her in that cheesy guy way.

"Why yes, just like you." N grinned, his grin more like a smirk.

Sara's face went completely red. "U-Ummm…Thanks."

N held her closer. After Sara had gotten used to it, she looked at N. His face was pretty red as well.

"AHA! YOU DO FEEL EMOTION!" Sara exclaimed.

"Eh?"

"In Nacarene city, you weren't embarrassed in any way at all!" I said.

"Wha-Oh yeah." He smiled, and then frowned sadly again. _'I really don't want to break her heart; maybe if I hadn't met her, she wouldn't have gotten caught up into all of this. But, then I wouldn't be holding her right now. I guess I should just enjoy my time with her while it's still like this.'_

Sara noticed this, but thought that it was normal of him, since he was 'polar opposites'; as she called it._ 'He really is a complex character…I hope I can eventually understand him._

The Ferris wheel stopped back at the bottom back where we started. "Thank you for riding with us. Have a nice day!" Haru beamed through the intercom.

When N stood up, a small familiar box fell out of his pocket. The lid to the box fell open.

"That's-The Beautifly earrings!" Sara pointed to the box lying open on the floor.

"Shoot!" N mumbled. "I was supposed to give you these later, but what the hell."

"N-How did you know that I wanted these?" Sara held the box in her hands marveled.

"I just know." He said.

Sara hugged him. "Thank you." She put her new earrings into her bag.

'_Crap, I'm starting to feel really guilty now.'_ N frowned.

He had his arm around her when they walked out. He wanted to savor every moment they had together before he had to do what he was told…it is for the Pokémon after all; but how will she feel? This is a big step for him.

As for Sara, she thinks everything is going fine; too trusting of everyone to realize the evil in the world. She just thought of N as an interesting trainer with interesting motives that she wishes she could understand him; polar opposite of himself is what she thought of him

"Lord N!"

"N-sama!"

"Are you safe?"

"Oops. Was this a bad time?"

"Team Plasma?" Sara gaped.

'_Man they're bad actors.' _N thought to himself.

Sara laughed out loud. "This has to be some kind of joke! Right?"

All of the Plasma grunts; coincidentally the ones from earlier smirked. N just looked down at the floor.

"N? They're joking; _right?_" Sara pressed.

N sighed. "I guess I can't hide this burden from you any longer."

**Melody: Sorry that it's shorter than usual! And sorry if it didn't have enough fluff; I tried, and I'm new at this whole author thing so give me some mercy.**

_**Please Review! They're appreciated very much!**_


	14. Heartbroken, but not bowed

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon! Nya~**

Sara's POV

This has to be some kind of joke. "What the hell? Did Cheren put you up to this?"

Lizzie laughed out loud. "My oh my, even to the truth you're dense."

It finally makes sense. How N's ambitions were much like Team Plasma's; Team Plasma constantly calling me Juliet, dense, and naïve. Why did he hide it from me all of this time? Couldn't N have told me when he first met me? I wouldn't feel so shocked…hurt…

Heartbroken.

"She's as shocked as I thought she would be." The red-head innocent looking goon named Susan sneered.

"I'm surprised she didn't see it coming. It was quite obvious." Chris muttered.

The depressed grunt named Derek chuckled. "It's because she's way too dense and naïve; and just plain stupid."

"WHAT?" I fumed. "OH YEAH, LET'S SEE HOW 'STUPID' I AM ONCE I KICK YOUR ASS!" I pulled out Dewott's poke ball.

"Tch-You seem easy enough since your short temper takes over." He pulled out a poke ball as well.

I saw N hold up his hand to Derek, still looking down at the floor, his back to me.

"There's no need for you to bother with her Derek." He said. He sounded different…like another charter had taken over him; a powerful and determined one, and I thought he was already complicated enough with two other characters.

"You, your friends, and the others are part of the people we brought into Team Plasma to save the Pokémon. Now, go quickly to the base you came from; let my battle cover your retreat." N turned around and looked at me, but he was addressing the Plasma goons.

What was the emotion in his eyes? Determination? Sorrow? Confusion?

"Now then, Sara; do you follow my logic?"

I was definitely shocked, probably even broken. "N…"

N looked up towards the starry night sky and closed his eyes. "Ah, based on the future I envision…Perhaps I won't be able to defeat you here and now, but at least I'll buy time for these Team Plasma members to get away."

'_Wait Wait Wait, back up! Did he just say that he could envision the future? How messed up is this getting? I don't want to ask him about it, I can't trust him with anything anymore._

"Go, Audino!" I said.

"Sandile, go."

"I don't understand. Aren't you supposed to be against Pokémon abuse?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Then why were Chris and Lizzie kicking a Munna in the Dream yard?" I asked. Chris and Lizzie were mouthing the words "Don't say it!"

N whipped his head around and glared at the goons. "Is that true?"

All of the Plasma goons froze. "Thank you for your mercy!" They said and ran off quickly. We started our battle shortly after they left.

"A-Akemo…."I heard Haru stutter. "…N Harmonia…IS THE KING OF TEAM PLASMA?"

I heard Akemo come running out. "I can see how that would work." Akemo said.

I hadn't battled N since Accumula Town. I was actually quite nervous, especially since I knew who he really was now; my enemy.

"You're Pokémon love you very much and care for you…" He said in his smooth somehow attracting voice.

"SHUT UP! DEWOTT, RAZOR SHELL!"

N seemed somewhat hurt. I'm the one who should be hurt, not him! Why in the name of Arceus would he be hurt? I haven't kept any secrets from him! He broke me with this one.

He had four Pokémon in all; but I didn't see the Purrlion that he had when we battled in Accumula Town. He had a Sandile, a Darumaka, a Scraggy, and a Sigilyph.

"Hang in there, Sigilyph!" N exclaimed.

"Emolga, go!" Emolga flew forward towards N's last Pokémon.

"Even if I lose, will it be different from the future I saw?"

Ok, now I know that I didn't imagine it the first time. "Emolga, shock wave!"

My Pokémon were really coming through for me. I hated to admit it especially now, but N was right; they did love me.

"Sigilyph, return."

"Good job Emolga!"

_EMOL!_

"The result was the same…but Sara? Who are you?" He asked.

"I-don't understand…"

"You're quite strong." He told me.

"Why did you become a Pokémon trainer anyways? Aren't you kind of against them?" I argued.

"Why, because I have a future that I must change." He stepped towards me, and I stepped away.

"What are you saying; you seeing the future?"

"It may sound quite impossible, but I have the ability to see the future."

_So, it's not just me. I'm not the only one who has visions. I can't tell him that I do either._

"To change that future, I have to defeat the champion and become the strongest trainer in the world; like no other. I'll make all trainers free their Pokémon! If you want to stop me, the only way is to collect all the Gym badges and head for the Pokémon league! You can try and stop my there, but you'll only be able to defeat me if your conviction is stronger than mine. Or…"

I was still trying to register all of this. He must have strong belief in his ideals too have this sought out plan. "Or what?"

" …You could join us."

I widened my eyes in shock. "J-Join Team Plasma?"

"Yes, because you and I; we understand each other. In Accumula Town, you were confused, you couldn't see how the Pokémon felt. If you join us, I could tell you how they felt. You could be a high rank! You wouldn't have to face me, the Gym Leaders, or the Pokémon League! You could be victorious with us! And…I know that you have visions too. We could be invincible with you, and we could work together!"He outstretched his hand towards me. "Are you in?"

Believe it or not, it sounded kind of tempting. I don't want to separate people and Pokémon, but I'm not sure I want to face N with his strong convictions. He also knew that I had visions; I don't know how he knew and I really didn't care now, but… maybe he could help me find out why I had them…maybe he could understand me... Either way, I'm damned.

"No."

N looked shocked. "What?"

"I'm not going to do it. You have your dreams, and I have mine. I wanted to live a normal life, but I guess it's too late now. First of all, in case you didn't notice, this is real life! This isn't some fantasy world where everyone will do what you say! Sure, you're the king of Team Plasma, good for you, but what about my friends and I for example! Get this through your thick royal skull; THIS ISN'T MAKE BELIVE! This is the real world N! You need to open your eyes and face it! You can't just go around hurting people! You broke me, N. I actually trusted you…" I felt my eyes water and my voice crack. I clenched my fists by my sides to keep from yelling.

"Sara…"

"Don't talk to me. You can go back to your luxurious, spoiled king life and keep doing whatever you were doing before you met me. Just forget you even knew me, I can easily do that. I have friends, real human friends; I haven't even told them some of the things I have to you…"

N guiltily looked down at his feet.

I felt tears quickly rolling down my cheeks. "Why'd you hide it from me all this time? It would've been good to know who my enemy was when I first met him. Did you just think that it would be amusing to see me broken like this?"

"Sara, you don't understand…I didn't want to do this to you!" He came up closer to me.

I ignored him and turned my head to the right. "You didn't? Yeah sure, then who did?"

He froze. "I-I can't tell you."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." I fumed. "Just like you couldn't tell me that you were the King of Team Plasma. Good-bye, 'Your Highness'." I scoffed and stormed off.

I looked back at him. "Oh yeah, and whatever happened to 'You can trust me.'?" I mocked his voice when he said that.

I heard someone call my name. I don't think it was N's, it was a new voice, but I didn't want to take my chances.

He broke my heart after all.

Bianca's POV

Cheren and I went on _all_ of the rides in the amusement park and Hilbert trained at the battle subway; that's what Cheren wanted to do but he said that he had to watch me because my dad told him to.

We met up with Hilbert so that we could rent a room. I guess Sara was still on her date with N since I didn't see her here. Cheren rented a room for four and told the nurse to give the key to Sara when she gets here.

"Sara Whitela? According to my list of sign-ins, Sara Whitela has already rented a room for three others!" She handed Cheren the room key.

We all looked at each other confused, and then went up to the room written on the key.

"Sara?" I said and opened the door. I saw Sara lying down on the bottom bunk in her pajamas, her face buried in a pillow.

I turned on the light. "Hi Sara!" I exclaimed and ran over to her.

She lifted up her head. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were watery and red, and her face was dirtied with her dried tears. "Hey Bianca. Did you have fun?"

"Sara? What happened?"

Sara's Emolga was making noises and flying around in circles.

"Why would you think something happened?" She tried to smile, and then flopped her head back into the wet pillow.

"Well, that pillow is wet; I'm guessing from your tears." Cheren stated.

"You can trust us, Sara." Hilbert assured.

Sara froze. "DON'T SAY THAT! YOU'RE LYING! L-I-A-R!" She started to sob into her pillow again.

"Something definitely happened." Hilbert said.

"We just need to leave her alone!" I said. "I don't know what happened, but she needs some time to recover over it."

They both gaped at me. Sara eventually cried to sleep.

"Ok. Bianca, look in her backpack for clues and hand Cheren and I suspicious stuff in her backpack." Hilbert ordered.

"Isn't that kind of perverted?" Cheren asked.

"She would do the same for you!" He argued.

"Well let's see…" I looked through her backpack.

"OH MY GOSH!"

"What is it Bianca?"

"Sara has a ton of money!" I exclaimed.

Cheren face palmed. "Bianca! Try to look for things that stand out!"

"What about this pink poke ball?" I held it up and Sara's adorable Audino popped out.

Cheren and Hilbert took out their pokedexes to scan Sara's Pokémon. "That's just a heal ball. Try something a little more interesting."

"It couldn't be this box with a red ribbon on it." I said and tossed the box behind me.

"WHAT BOX?" Hilbert yelled.

"Oh, that one over there." I pointed to where I had tossed it.

Hilbert ran over there and opened the box. "Eh? I never knew that Sara liked earrings."

"Earrings?" I peeked over his shoulder and gasped. "Those are the earrings that Sara wanted in Castelia City!"

"Did she buy them there?" Cheren asked.

"Nope! She said that she wanted to save her money." I answered.

"How'd she get them?" Hilbert examined the tiny box.

"I don't know…"

"Wait, Hilbert, what's that paper taped to the lid of the box?" Cheren pointed to the box.

"Wow. I can't believe that I didn't notice that." Hilbert sweat dropped and took out the note, when a thin rectangular piece of paper fell out.

"Maybe that's the receipt for the earrings!" Hilbert exclaimed.

Cheren picked it up and examined it. "…Or a receipt for two tickets on the Ferris wheel." We all looked at the sleeping Sara.

"Why did she buy two tickets? She only needed one!" I said.

Hilbert and Cheren sweat dropped.

"She went on the Ferris wheel with someone." Cheren put straightly.

"But who?" I asked eagerly.

Cheren sighed, trying not to yell at me. "Who else? The champion?" He said with a huge amount of sarcasm in his voice.

"She could've…"

"BIANCA!"They both snapped.

"Maybe if we read the note, you'll see." Hilbert said and opened the folded piece of paper.

_Sara,_

_I hope you like these earrings that I got for you. I also hope that you'll forgive me and that someday you'll understand all that's going on._

_Sincerely,_

_N Harmonia_

Hilbert was furious. He slowly crumbled up the note.

"We'll just wake up early tommorow so that we can confront her." Cheren stated and tried his best to smooth out the destroyed note.

"Earlier than Sara?" Hilbert moaned.

"She wakes up really early!" I said.

Cheren sighed. "I know. We'll just have to do it."

_The next morning…_

Sara's POV

I slowly opened my eyes and woke up. My watch said that it was 6:30. I just wanted to crawl back into bed, depressed. Pretty much by telling N that I didn't want to join his stupid cosplay team was like saying that I was his enemy. I turned around so that I could get up and saw my three friends, already fully dressed and ready to go hovering over my bed.

"Good morning!" I tried to say happily.

"Morning." They all said at the same time.

"Sara! Did your vision come true again?" Bianca squealed.

"Yeah, I wish that it hadn't!" I retorted and then covered my mouth.

"Why?" Bianca asked innocently.

"…Because I-"

"Save it Sara." Cheren interrupted and pulled out a box…the one that held the earrings…

That N gave me.

"WHY WERE YOU LOOKING THROUGH MY BAG? PERVERT!" I threw my pillow hard at him.

"I told you that it was wrong!" Cheren hissed to Hilbert.

"HILBERT!"

"S-Sorry Sara-Sama!"

"Don't call me that. It's a bad memory." I said, remembering that one of the Plasma goons call N that.

"S-Sorry."

"What's it to you?" I covered up cooly to Cheren.

"Oh, just these earrings; I thought that you didn't have enough money to buy them." Cheren countered.

"S-So?" I argued. "Maybe I decided to buy them!"

"Ok…What about this receipt and this note?" Cheren smirked and held up two pieces of paper like they were playing cards.

"Give me those!" I jumped out of bed and grabbed them from Cheren's hand.

I was trembling while I read the note.

"What exactly happened last night?" Hilbert asked.

"N-N's the…he's the…"

"WHAT IS HE?" Bianca squealed impatiently.

"N's the King of Team Plasma, ok?"

Silence…

"It makes sense." Cheren stated.

"We believe you Sara." Hilbert assured.

"We're here for you!" Bianca exclaimed.

"So, why were you bawling your eyes out?" Cheren smirked.

"W-Why do you care?" I stammered.

"Sara! Let's go shopping to cheer you up!" Bianca started to pull me away.

"Wait! I'm still in my pajamas!"

Once we were ready, Bianca walked me to the clothes district. "You just need to get your mind off of him~!" Bianca said. "Read a magazine or something!" She handed me a new issue of her gossipy teen magazines.

She gasped all of a sudden. "O-Or not!" She tried taking the magazine away from me.

"Why not? Relax~!" I said and flipped the page. Of course, there just happened to be an article of N and I at the Ferris wheel.

"WHAT. THE. HELL!"

"Let's go somewhere else!" Bianca squealed.

We went to a girly frilly store; different types of Lolita styles, I think that's what it's called.

"Come on Sara! Let's go!" She started to drag me in.

"No way!" I stood still and resisted. "That's way too girly for me!"

"But I want something!" Bianca pleaded.

"Fine." I scowled.

Bianca was scurrying around the store while I stood towards the back. Bianca tried on a sweet Lolita dress and bought the whole outfit.

"Sara, don't you want to buy something?" Bianca asked.

"Nah, I'm not really into skirts and stuff like that."

"B-But I heard that it's going to get cold from here on out. At least that's what Cheren said."

I thought over what my friends were wearing. Why was I the only one not prepared?

"Ugh. I'll be fine."

"Noooo! You don't have to wear a skirt!" Bianca took me back into the girly shop.

"See? You could wear these long socks and a black long sleeve shirt underneath!" She exclaimed.

I was fine with the black undershirt, but those socks were long! They looked like they could go well over my knees! Otherwise the color of gray was cute.

"I don't know if I…"

"Ok!" Bianca bought them for me. I cursed under my breath.

"Cheren and Hilbert want us to go to the battle subway! Something about visiting Anville town and someone named…Brandon I think."

I sighed. "Ok, let's go…"

Bianca put the bags back in our hotel room and walked to the battle subway. Hilbert and Cheren were talking to this guy about our age. He was a little taller than Hilbert, but a little shorter than Cheren; either way he was tall. He had brown hair that matched his eyes much like Hilbert's. He was wearing black pants with a black and white button down shirt unbuttoned with a v-neck white shirt underneath.

"Come on Sara! Let's go meet Barlow!" Bianca squealed.

"I thought his name was Brandon." I muttered.

"Hmm….you look familiar…" Cheren said to Brandon.

"Really? That's interesting, I assure you I'm just a normal trainer." Brandon replied. Cheren took note of when Brandon said that he was a 'normal trainer'.

"HI CHEREN! HI HILBERT! HI BENJAMIN!" Bianca exclaimed.

We all sweat dropped. "Actually…his name is Brendon. Brendon, this is Bianca and Sara." Hilbert motioned to each one of us.

"Oh, sorry Brandon." Bianca said innocently. He fell anime style. "I-It's fine." He said.

"Hey Brendon." I put a little emphasis on 'Brendon'. "I'm Sara. Nice to meet you."

"S-Sara! Are you Sara Whitela?" Brendon said, trying not to let her know that he knew about her.

I sighed. "Yes, that's me." _Why is his face red? Maybe just a springtime flu going around._

"I-I need to tell you something-about N."

"He's the King of Team Plasma. Believe me, I know. How did you know him?" I asked.

"Well, you see, it's quite confusing…" He replied sadly.

"Ah, I know how you feel." I said.

"Bill, you know N?" Bianca gasped.

Brendon sighed, accepting the fact that Bianca would never remember his name. "Yeah…I know him. Not very much though…we just ran into each other."

"Well, at least it's better in your situation." I said pessimistically.

"Really? Is it really?" He argued.

Yet again silence….

"Let's go to Anville Town! Why don't we all sympathize for each other there?" Hilbert pushed us over towards the bullet train.

Soon enough, we were on the bullet train and heading off to Anville town.

"Bianca, make sure you put on your seat belt." Cheren ordered.

"Hmm? Seat belt? There are none! Don't worry~ I'll be fine~!" Bianca exclaimed.

"WHAT? AT A TRAIN GOING ALMOST 200 MPH THEY SHOULD AT LEAST HAVE SEAT BELTS! I'M GOING TO COMPLAIN!"

"Cheren! Relax~ you're doing just fine of taking care of your girlfriend!" Hilbert teased.

"Oh, so they're a couple?" Brendon asked curiously.

"Wellll…"

"Why do you care, _Brendon?"_ Cheren scoffed.

"Well, I am his girl friend, because we've been friends ever since we were kids!" Bianca answered honestly.

Brendon laughed. "I see! Sorry, just curious!"

I smiled at they're conversation.

Bianca gasped. "OMG! SARA SMILED! YAY~!"

"Well, of course! You guys are funny!"

"So, Sara. You never did tell us what happened last night." They all looked at me expectantly.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Ok! Bob! How did you know N?" Bianca asked curiously giving up on convincing me.

"N's not really the problem. Well, he is, but it's more of Ghestis, and…Susan…"Brendon trailed off during the last part.

I whipped her head in Brendon's direction. "G-Ghestis? What did that idiot do now? And isn't Susan a Plasma goon?"

"I-I shouldn't say it."

"Pleease?" I begged.

His face turned red.

"Sara, don't force him!" Bianca said.

"Oh, the why were you guys forcing me?" I argued.

"Brendon's from Sinnoh!" Hilbert exclaimed changing the conversation.

"Wow cool! What's it like in Sinnoh?"

"Well, it's-"

"Did you battle the Elite four and champion?" Cheren interrupted pushed up his glasses.

"Yeah, Cynthia was hard to beat." Brendon said.

"Who's Cynthia?" I asked curiously.

"She's Sinnoh's champion."

"Cool!"

"Wait; Cynthia isn't the champion. Someone defeated her and gave that role to someone else! " Cheren stated. "W-Wait a second." Cheren gaped. "Brendon, you're-"

"No, Cynthia is!" Brendon interrupted hastily. "Why does everyone make that mistake?" He laughed.

"It's true." Hilbert said. "The reception thought that he was the Champion too!" Hilbert laughed along.

"Yeah, I hate it when people think you're someone else!" I said.

Bianca giggled. "Oh yeah, like this one time, someone called me on my X-Transceiver, and they said "Hey Haru." And, I'm like "Oops, wrong number! Bye-Bye!" True story…"

"…"

"What about Susan? And…that other guy?" I asked.

"What other guy?" Brendon asked.

"I think she's talking about N." Bianca said.

"Oh yeah, and know you know who we're talking about." Hilbert mocked.

"You see…" Brendon started. "Susan…was my childhood friend."

Bianca gasped. "Why are you friends with someone in Team Plasma?"

"Bianca, just listen." Cheren ordered.

"I actually had feelings for her, but once I told her, she decided to run away to Kanto, and- did I just say that?" His face turned crimson red.

"Yep!" Bianca giggled.

Hilbert's eyes widened. "Wait, Susan's her name? And she ran away to Kanto?"

Brendon nodded.

"I knew her! We umm….were together, wow it feels awkward to say that!" Hilbert said.

"Really?" Brendon gasped.

"What happened?" I asked.

"She dumped me for that Derek guy." Hilbert said gloomily.

"Derek? Isn't he a Plasma goon also? How messed up is this getting?" I said.

"How did you know N?" Bianca asked.

"Well, like I said we ran into each other in the forest near Nimbasa City. It was actually just last night that I met him." Brendon replied.

"Last…night….what time?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, about 6:30." He replied.

"Why, Sara? Is it important?" Cheren smirked.

"Why would you care?" I looked away not meeting his smirk.

"But…he said something about you." Brendon said.

I felt myself blush. "I don't care! He was probably making some stupid plan for Team Plasma."

"Ok, if you're really that upset at him, I won't tell you."

"Thanks…" I said.

"Sara! What happened with you and N on the Ferris wheel?" Bianca asked curiously.

"You really want to know that badly?"

"Yes! Everything!"

I sighed. "Fine."

"Yay!" Bianca squealed. Everyone else was also quite pleased that I was telling them.

While I was telling them, I felt on the verge of crying. Hilbert interrupted me:

"HE ASKED YOU TO JOIN TEAM PLASMA? WELL, WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"Hmmm…let me think…"Sure N! I'd love to join Team Plasma!"" I mocked sarcastically.

I continued to tell them. Once I was done, they didn't say anything for a while.

"Yeah, I guess that plus your others encounters with him explain why you would be heartbroken." Cheren stated.

"I don't know if heartbroken is really the word." I said.

"Yes, that explains why you cried yourself to sleep yesterday." He countered.

"…"

"Why couldn't he tell me before?" I asked.

"I'm pretty sure that he didn't want you to hate him." Bianca replied.

Everyone looked at Bianca shocked.

"What? Girls know this stuff."

"Why would he care?"

They all looked at me the same way Ghestis did when I asked him who the King of Team Plasma was (like I was stupid).

"Sara…you still don't see it?" Hilbert asked sadly.

"See what?"

"Nevermind."

The intercom snapped on; bringing another bad memory.

"We have reached our destination. Thank you for riding with us. Have a nice day!" A girl's voice beamed.

Anville town was a small town; maybe not even a town; where many trains rested. There was a small café, and only about five people outside. It was beautiful and peaceful, and a girl was playing a beautiful melody on her flute.

"Hey Sara." Brendon said.

"Yeah?"

"Why don't we battle? It's what trainers do when they first meet." He pulled out a poke ball.

"Yeah, I'm aware." I pulled out my poke ball in response.

"Go, Larvesta!"

"Let's go, Oshawott!"

"Hmm…He still has a Oshawott." Cheren noted. "Usually, they evolve into a Dewott by now."

"Yeah Yeah, whatever but it's so freaking strong!" I argued.

Brendon…was amazingly strong. Even though my Emolga was part flying type, he managed to defeat it. It was the same with his other Pokémon; a Sawsbuck, a Panpour, and a Krokorok . I managed to beat his Krokorok with my Dewott, but he still had plenty of Pokémon left over.

"Come on out, Cobalion!"

"A Cobalion?" Cheren gaped adjusting his glasses. "How did he catch that? They were only in story books that Bianca and I read when we were kids!"

"…The legendary Musketeer Trio?" Bianca asked.

"Yes."

I took out my pokedex to scan it. It was a legendary Pokémon? I didn't know any of the Unova legends, but I do know that legendary Pokémon have amazing strength; especially based on the legends from Hoenn!

"Emolga, use…shock wave?"

"Cobalion, use Iron head!"

That attack alone was strong plus the fact that Emolga was already tired. "Good job Emolga!"

"_EMOL-GA"_ It squealed sadly.

"I can't understand you, but I don't care if you lost or not. You did great! Trust me!"

Brendon's eyes widened and he blushed a little. "Wow…you're strong, and I could tell by the way that you're Pokémon were battling that they love you!"

"Thank you! And it's good to hear someone else not psycho tell me that my Pokémon loved me!" I said referring to yesterday. Wow, I still couldn't get over that?

"C-Can- HOW DID YOU GET A LEGENDARY POKEMON?" Cheren gaped.

"I dunno, it just came to me." Brendon said and shrugged.

Cheren ran up to the Cobalion and examined it. "B-But…"

"Let's go to the café!" Bianca cheered.

Brendon froze for a second.

"Hmm? Something wrong?" I asked him.

"It's happening again…." He said.

"Hilbert, Cheren, Bianca!" I called out and motioned them to come over.

Brendon turned around.

"Are we going?" Cheren asked impatiently.

"I'm Hungry!" Bianca protested.

"Wait!" Brendon said. "It's coming…just wait…"

Hilbert looked at Brendon confused. "What are you-" Hilbert got interrupted by a Pokémon's call:

"_VIRRRIZON!"_

A green deer-like Pokémon approached us. We all gaped at the Pokémon.

"C-Cheren?" I asked.

"W-What?"

"What Pokémon is that?" Hilbert finished.

Cheren gaped. "That's…the second Pokémon of the Musketeer Trio- Virizion!"

_To be continued…_

**Melody: Thank you fans! Please read my friend Clan Warrior's story! They're from Brendon's POV! It goes more into depth about what happened between him, Ghestis, and N; and about the Musketeer Trio.**

**On side note, I got the chapter title from a chapter of a book that I'm reading, but I changed it up a little. The title means that even though Sara was heartbroken, she wouldn't "bow down to", or in this case, join Team Plasma. I also got some of the ideas for my story from the song "Real Life" from Drawn to Life, the next chapter.**

_**Thank you! Please keep reviewing!**_


	15. The Musketeer Trio and the Goddesses

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon which is why Cheren doesn't get any legendary Pokémon.**

**Cheren: Why not? !**

**Melody: Because you're a stuck up know it all… Maybe I'll give you some mercy.**

**Cheren: *mini celebration***

Sara's POV

"That's-But how…" We stood there staring at the magnificent Pokémon.

_VIRRRIZION!_

"Ok. Go poke ball!" Brendon threw a basic poke ball at the Legendary Pokémon.

"What are you doing? !" Cheren gaped "There's no way that you're going to catch the second Pokémon of the musketeer trio with a basic poke-"

**_CHING._**

"Cool! Cobalion has his friend now!" Brendon beamed and let out Virizion.

Cheren gaped at the scene. "B-B-But…HOW? !" Cheren ran up to the Pokémon and pet it, truly astonished.

"Umm…Is this normal?" Brendon asked.

"Yeah, he's going to be going gaga over it for a while." I answered.

"Let's go to the cafeeee!" Bianca whined.

"OK!"

We were walking when Bianca gasped.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Sara! Look at the booth!" She pointed to a stand right next to the café. The sign read _Future Love advice: It's Free!_ The women there were really pretty. One of them had long fuchsia pink hair and the other one had short golden blonde hair a little longer than Bianca's.

I laughed. "Bianca, two things, first of all, I don't need any advice. Second of all, it has to be some kind of prank if it's for free."

"Come on Sara! You're wrong about both of those things. You need advice, and I bet you they're just doing it to be nice!" Bianca pouted and pulled me towards them. We all sighed.

This should be good.

Narrator's POV

"Anthea! This idea is ridiculous! N-Sama just wanted us to find her somehow, not make a ridiculous stand! We shouldn't be wasting our time and visions this way!"

The pink hair girl kept humming. "Relax Concordia! I think it's a great idea! And about our visions, I just fake them! I don't even use the real thing!"

Concordia pouted. "What actually makes you think that one out of, oh let's say a million people would come to our stand! This isn't going to work!"

Anthea looked over at her, her amber brown eyes shining with excitement. "Of course it will! Love can conquer anything!"

"Listen to yourself! You sound like a Disney Princess!" Concordia hissed. "How do you even know that they'll be here? !"

"Well, for your name meaning Goddess of Peace, you sure can get impatient!" Anthea giggled. "The Shadow Triad told me that they'll all be coming here!"

Concordia scowled. "They're always playing pranks on us! Well, not all of them, but you know who! I don't want to say it out in public! Nobody except the Plasma grunts listen to any of them!"

Anthea smiled. "I know they do, but if our king told them to help us then they wouldn't be lying."

"…True…"

"Hello!" Bianca beamed. "My friend would like to try you're service!"

"No Bianca! I don't want to!" Sara whined.

Concordia and Anthea shot a look at each other. _Her name's Bianca…_

"Okay! My name's Anthea!"

"I'm Concordia. Just to make sure…" She paused to look at Anthea "…What's your friend's name?" Concordia asked.

"Sara! Sara Whitela!" Bianca beamed and pushed Sara forward.

Anthea smirked at Concordia. Concordia's pale blue eyes widened in shock.

_"Told you!"_

_"Shut it, Anthea!"_

_"They can't hear us, remember? Telepathy?"_

_"I don't freaking care!"_

"Ok! Would you like advice on peace or love?"

_'Good, it's not just love.'_ Sara thought to herself. "Pea-"

"Love!" Bianca interrupted.

"What?"

"Love it is!" Anthea beamed. "Ok, may I please see your hand?"

"Wait, I don't want a palm reader!" Sara gasped.

"No No, I just need your hand to see a vision!" Anthea exclaimed. Concordia face palmed.

"Uh-huh. At least it's free." Sara muttered and hesitantly handed the pink haired girl her hand.

_"Wait! Anthea! You're not going to use the real thing, are you? !"_

_"Of course not silly~! N-sama already told us everything that happened! I just need to make myself sound wise like I usually do!"_

_"Fine."_

Anthea closed her eyes. "Let's see…based on the past that I envision…"

_'Ugh, there are too many déjà vu's today!'_ Sara thought to herself.

"You're mad at someone whom you trusted. It took you completely off guard even if the answer was right in front of you."

Sara gaped. "H-How did-"

"She's the real thing!" Hilbert gaped.

"Well, what should she do?" Bianca asked impatiently.

"She should forgive that person. No matter how much it hurt her, it's the right thing to do." Anthea replied. "Their paths will blur together eventually from now on out."

_"How do you know that, Anthea? !"_

_"I may have used a little bit of my powers, just slightly."_

"Great. Just when I wanted him out of my life we're going to travel together?"

Anthea frowned, as if she were sympathizing for N. "Not necessarily. You may just run into each other more often after your incident."

"No, she can't be the real thing." Cheren said. "She obviously must have gotten it from those magazines that Bianca reads."

Bianca pulled out her magazine. "B-But it doesn't mention anything about what they said. It just said that they went on an outing where it ended with Sara running away crying!"

Cheren looked at the magazine. "Hmph. If they're the real thing, then they would be able to help me." Cheren stated.

"What would you like advice on?"Concordia asked.

"Pea-"

"Love." Hilbert interrupted.

"What? !" Cheren gaped, his face turning red. "H-How preposterous. Why would I ever need advice on that?"

Anthea looked back at Concordia nervously.

_"What are you going to do now_?" Concordia taunted through telepathy.

_"I'll have to use the real thing this time!"_

Anthea grabbed Cheren's hand. Cheren rolled his eyes.

Anthea giggled. "Silly! You've known this person for a while! I bet you that they'll feel the same way for you too! No matter how scatterbrained or flighty they may be, you have to gain the courage to tell them."

Hilbert, Brendon, and Sara laughed at Cheren. "Now do you think she's the real thing?" Sara laughed even more. Cheren's face flushed a deep red. Bianca still stood there clueless.

"Why would you do this for free though?" Cheren asked.

Anthea and Concordia froze.

_"They're onto us!"_

"Only out of the kindness of our hearts!" Anthea exclaimed. They all gaped at Bianca. She was actually right!

"Thank you! Have a nice day!" Concordia said hastily.

"Wait! I want to do it!" Bianca whined.

"Sorry! We're closing up!" Concordia said.

"But it's only…" Brendon looked at his watch. "3:00!"

"We need to go meet up with someone! Nice meeting you!"

The gang walked into the café.

"Phew, that was close!" Anthea exclaimed.

"We have to be more careful!"

"You're right. It was N-sama's orders anyways."

Sara's POV

We all walked into the café. "Hmm…That was suspicious." Cheren said as a waiter guided us to our table.

"Sara, were you really that sad? And why?" Hilbert asked.

"Probably because they were a couple." Brendon said innocently, his face flushing red.

"WHAT? ! WHERE'D YOU HEAR THAT FROM?" I gaped.

"Oh, I saw it in a magazine." He said.

"We never were. People just love a juicy story." I said.

"Oh, sorry." He said.

"It's fine!" I smiled.

We ordered our lunner and gratefully ate it. Cheren was looking at Virizion's poke ball when it started to shake.

"Ummm…Brendon? What's happening?" Cheren asked.

Brendon's face turned pale. "I'm sorry. I have to go outside for a second." He grabbed Virizion's poke ball and walked out.

"Too many suspicious thing going on." Hilbert said.

We were talking about Brendon's Pokémon and a lot of other subjects. Time passed by quickly and Brendon hadn't come back yet.

"Hey, what's taking Brendon?" Hilbert asked.

"Yeah, where'd he go?" Bianca asked.

"Let's go check outside." Cheren suggested.

"Ok." I said.

We walked outside, and saw Brendon facing us. He was battling one person and yelling at both of the people. Their backs were from me, but I could still recognize them…I couldn't believe it!

They were Ghestis and N.

**Sorry for shortness! I just wanted to do a short chapter like this! Maybe the next one will be short too, just a heads up.**

**Thanks to Clan's Warrior! He's my friend! He came up with the character Brendon, and we're letting each other use each other's characters. It's really cool!**

**_Please Review!_**


	16. Shocking events

**Melody: I'm already on the 16th chapter, and still in Nimbasa City! (Fail) Thank you for your reviews!**

**Disclaimer: Melody doesn't own Pokémon or Brendon. All of Brendon's lines are made up by her friend, Clan's Warrior.**

Sara's POV

Thos fortune tellers nailed it on the fact that our paths would blur part.

"This must be really awkward for you." Hilbert whispered.

"You think?" I whispered back.

Brendon looked over at us, which gave us away. Ghestis and N turned in our direction.

"Dammit." Ghestis muttered.

N looked at me. "Sara…"

Ghestis glared at N.

"What do you want now?" I asked, covering up my feelings of hurt. I could feel N's eyes watching me. It was hard to look away, since he was staring directly at me.

"I was out on my duties." He said.

_He was actually out to get his mind off of hurting you. He didn't want to._

_Well, then why did he-_

Wait! I usually hear that voice right before I have…

Visions.

Sure enough, I saw two hands holding on to each other. The feminine hand was on the left, and the one on the right hand was masculine. The one on the right let go, but the one on the left kept trying to hang on.

"Sara, your face is as white as a sheet." Cheren noted.

"Hmm…That was a strange vision." I mumbled softly to myself.

Bianca gasped. "SARA? ! YOU HAD ONE OF YOUR VISIONS AGAIN? !"

"BIANCA!" We all yelled. "I mumbled it for a reason!" I said.

"Sorry…"

"I-It can't be _her_." Ghestis gaped, and then laughed in a way that sent chills down my spine. "They're all just out of their minds! That must be it!"

"Oh, and _we're_ the one out of our minds." I retorted.

"Say what you will."

"Does anyone else notice that he says that a lot?" I asked.

"Ghestis!" Brendon said. "Why are you forcing N to do these things?"

"Brendon, these are my ideals." N said, looking away from me for a second. "This is what I'll believe; I'll fight for it!"

"So…that's how he feels…" I said to myself, looking down at the floor, not making eye contact with him.

Brendon scowled. "Is it that necessary though; that necessary to go around hurting people? And by people, I mean Sara!"

"I never wanted to hurt her!" N yelled, and then winced. Ghestis glared at him.

"Stupid boy, of course you did! It was your idea!" Ghestis said.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I think they're fighting over you…" Bianca whispered and winked playfully.

I blushed. "N-No they aren't."

"Yeah they are…"

I sighed. "Not that; that was N's idea? It…couldn't have been."

"She _is_ more dense than the top 4 grunts told me." Ghestis said.

"Why do you worry about Sara so much anyways?" N asked Brendon, changing the subject.

I felt myself blush again.

"Told you~…" Bianca taunted.

"Because… These are my new friends."

"Yay!" Bianca beamed. "We're all friends~! Lovely Friends~!"

We all sweat dropped since she ruined the dramatic moment.

"Stupid girl…" Ghestis muttered to himself.

"Hey!" Bianca whined. "Humph, meanie." Bianca pouted and crossed her arms.

Ghestis seemed to be getting annoyed from Bianca's child-like personality.

"HEY! DON'T CALL HER THAT! YOU'RE NOT IN ANY WAY BETTER THAN HER!" Cheren yelled defensively.

"Cheren!" Bianca beamed.

"N, you're the one hurting people along with Susan and Derek! I can't allow that." Brendon continued, stopping the current conversation.

"…And Chris and Lizzie!" I finished. Even now, I still felt N's eyes on me.

"Especially Susan!" Hilbert yelled, and then muttered something under his breath. "Brendon, beat Ghestis since N hurt Sara!"

Cheren slyly smirked. "You especially want him to beat Ghestis since-"

"Shut it Cheren!" Hilbert interrupted his face red.

I looked at the both of them confused.

"Oshawott, please hang in there!" Brendon said. "Use Hydro Pump! We can't lose against Ghestis!"

"Hydro Pump? ! That's so cool! I wish my Dewott could learn that!" I exclaimed.

"Hydro Pump?" Cheren said to himself. "Oshawott doesn't learn Hydro Pump unless it evolves into a higher evolution, unless it's on a high level! Wait a second…"

"Humph. N, we shall be leaving now. You hurt this poor girl more than I thought you would, based on what you told me what would happen." Ghestis ordered.

"Ok, I never thought it would go this far!" N said, whipping his head towards Ghestis, the only other time throughout this entire encounter that he looked away from me. "This is going way over-!"

"I said let's go!" Ghestis snapped.

"N, you really need to find out who your allegiances lie to..." Brendon said.

Ghestis whipped his head back to glare at Brendon. N looked back at me. His grayish -green eyes looked like they were watering up; he looked at me as if it was the last time he would see me again. Some Plasma grunts came out from a hiding place and created a barricade behind them so that they could block Ghestis and N.

"That must've been awkward for you." Hilbert said.

I sighed, trying to hold my tears back. "So N came up with that idea after all…"

Everyone stayed silent.

"He couldn't have!" I said to myself. "How could he ever think up of something like that? !" I could feel tears running down my face.

"Don't cry Sara! We'll cheer you up!" Bianca said.

"And honestly, do you really think N would've come up with that?" Cheren asked.

"Well, Ghestis said he did-"

"Since when have you listened to Ghestis?"

"Well, never but based on what N said about his ideals, I don't know what to believe anymore." I sighed.

Hilbert put his arm around me. "Don't worry. Your friends are here with you."

Cheren laughed to himself while Brendon walked away.

"T-Thanks Hilbert." I said, feeling my face turn pink. I wiped away my tears, trying not to start bawling my eyes out again.

Brendon came over to me his hands behind his back. Hilbert looked at him suspiciously.

Brendon's face was red. "H-Here. I got this for you to cheer you up." He held out a red thorn less rose.

This made me blush even more, at least it wasn't red; just pink…I think…

"Brendon! T-Thank you!" I said and accepted the rose.

Hilbert glared at Brendon. Brendon froze, and Cheren started to laugh even harder.

"We always have to live with the memories of the past," Brendon started to say. "But like this rose, it comes back and it does so with more beauty...be the rose, become better for the future."

"Wow! That's beautiful! Thank you Brendon!" I gave him a hug.

When I let go of him, his face was crimson red. I turned around to look at Hilbert only to see his jaw had dropped all the way to the floor.

I should be going now, leaving you two alone." He said as if he were hinting something and smirked at Hilbert. "Until next time..." He let Cobalion out of its poke ball and rode off into the sunset.

"THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Hilbert yelled.

"What's not fair?" I asked curiously. He froze.

"H-He gets a Cobalion! Hmph, I wish I could get a legendary Pokémon." He stuttered.

I giggled. "You sound like Cheren!" We looked over at Cheren who was still gurgling over the Legendary Pokémon.

"Why-does-he-GET A LEGENDARY POKEMON? !"

"Wait Sara!" Bianca said. "What kind of flower did he give you?"

"Ummm…A red thorn less rose, why?"

Bianca started to giggle and squeal like a crazed fan girl **(A/N: No offense to you fan girls out there). **"It means love at first sight, no? Remember I got a book on flower definitions at the trainer school?"

Now I felt my face turn _red_, not pink, _red._

"Bianca would know; it's the only realistic book she ever borrowed." Cheren stated.

"H-He probably didn't know!" I argued. "Guys aren't into that stuff!"

"Not the only book!" Bianca argued, referring to what Cheren said. "I read Tokyo Mew Mew, Shugo Chara and…."

Bianca went on and on with her favorite mangas.

"I said the only _realistic_ one." Cheren reminded her.

"Oh."

We all sweat dropped.

"I wish I had romance like those books, or even like Sara!" Bianca whined.

"I-I don't have that romance, do I?" I argued defensively.

"Don't worry Bianca. You have plenty of romance." Hilbert chuckled. Cheren turned red.

"Really? With who?" Bianca asked in her ditsy self.

Cheren sighed in relief.

"With-"

"Don't say it, Hilbert!"

"Fine."

We all got onto the bullet train to leave. There wasn't much conversation on the way back. Once we got to Nimbasa City, it was 5:30.

"So Sara, what are you going to do?" Hilbert asked.

"I'm going to battle the Gym Leaders, of course! I have yet another thing to motivate me!"

_"I'll make all trainers free their Pokémon! If you want to stop me, the only way is to collect all the Gym badges and head for the Pokémon league!"_

"That's exactly what I'll do."I said to myself as I walked towards the Pokémon center to heal my Pokémon.

Cheren told me that Elesa's Gym was in the amusement park. I really didn't want to go into the amusement park again, but I have to. Elesa's Gym was so cool; it looks all futuristic! In order to get to Elesa, you had to step on switches and ride roller coasters.

"Sweet! I love roller coasters!" I exclaimed and fist pumped.

Every once in a while, I had to get off of the roller coaster to step on a switch so that I could move forward. The roller coaster went faster each time.

"Wow that was fun!"I said once I got off of the roller coaster.

"Did my roller coaster leave you dizzy? My Pokémon and I will be the next ones to make your head spin!"

Elesa was really hard. She had two Emolga's and a zebra-like Pokémon named Zebrastika. She kept using this move called Volt Switch which made her switch Pokémon every turn while inflicting damage on my Pokémon. Luckily, I had plenty of potions. I finally figured out her pattern of battling and was able to beat her.

"Wow…you have a shocking fighting style. You deserve this Bolt badge." She handed me a bolt that was shaped like a lightning rod.

"Thank you!" I said. "By the way, were you and Burgh really childhood friends?" I asked innocently.

Her face turned pink, and then she started to laugh. "H-He mentioned that?"

"Well, I asked him what the next Gym Leader was like and then he mentioned that."

"Oh-ho, ok. I mean, of course he would! Oh, I didn't mean it like that!" Elesa stammered.

I smiled. "It's fine."

"The next Gym is in Driftveil City. Is that where you're going to go?" Elesa asked.

"Yep!"

"Well, you probably won't be able to get there since the bridge is drawn up. Can you meet me tomorrow morning at Route 5 so I can fix it for you to cross?"

"Ok, today was pretty hectic after all. Bye Elesa!" I waved at her and she waved back.

**_A few minutes later…_**

"Sara! Can you battle me?" Hilbert asked.

I sighed. "Ok." Even though today was hectic, I guess I could enjoy another Pokémon battle.

Hilbert had two new Pokémon: A grass Pokémon called Petlil, and an electric type Pokémon named Blitzle. He was amazingly strong; I guess since he worked at the battle subway that helped him a lot.

"Yes! I won!" Hilbert beamed.

"Aw Man! Good job guys!" I told my Pokémon.

There was a pause before we started another conversation about Hilbert's job at the Battle Subway. Bianca and Cheren came back to the Pokémon center with their new Gym Badges.

"I guess I should try to beat Elesa now." Hilbert said and walked away.

"Ugh, today was hectic." I said as soon as we walked into our hotel room. "What's going on? This is messed up."

"Everything happens for a reason." Cheren said.

"What's the reason for this? I don't get it!" I argued.

Everyone stayed silent for a while

"I'm going to get ready for bed." I mumbled pessimistically and walked into the bathroom.

**_The next morning…_**

_'Ugh. I'm so tired! I don't want to wake up!'_

_'You have to! To beat N and keep Pokémon and people together! Let's goo!'_

I was having a mental argument with myself.

"…And to get revenge." I mumbled to myself as I got up.

Elesa told me to meet her at Route 5, which was to the left of the city. There were street performers all over, and festival decorations.

"Sara!"

I turned around to see Cheren running after me.

"I've got a Bolt Badge…and so do you…Let's test who's stronger-you or me-This time, I won't lo-

"No thanks."

"What?"

"I said 'No thanks', I'm really not in the mood since what's been happening lately.

"Nooo! Sara please battle me!" Cheren protested loudly. "I'M GOING TO WIN THIS TIME! COME ON!"

Everyone stared at us.

"Cheren! Everyone is staring at us!" I hissed.

"Hmph." He smirked soon after. "Then, I bet you would mind if I yell out everything that happened lately."

My eyes widened. "You wouldn't!"

He chuckled. "Well, let's see, didn't it start where you were innocently walking into the amusement park when-"

"FINE!" I fumed.

"Go, Leipard!"

I smirked; I knew his weaknesses, and especially his Pokémon's.

Cheren seemed to focus on strength. He was always trying to compete against me ever since I came to Unova. I don't know why; he's intelligent and honest, and Bianca thought he was cute…

Stop it Sara! Your life is messed up enough already!

Cheren sighed once I had beaten him. "Well, you're strong as usual."

"Thanks Cheren! You're pretty strong too."

"No I'm not!" He argued. "Why? ! Why can't I beat you? !"

People were starting to stare at us again, but I didn't seem to care. "Cheren…"

"I hate to interfere, but I thought that that was a splendid Pokémon battle!" A voice from the crowd said.

We turned around to see a man bright orange and red hair tied into a ponytail. He had a necklace of six poke balls and a poncho to match his hair.

"Thank you! I'm Sara, and this is my friend Cheren!" I said and gestured to Cheren. Cheren didn't say anything for a few seconds, so I turned around to look at him. Cheren was gaping at this man.

"T-That's-" Cheren stammered.

"Who? Do you guys know each other?" I asked casually.

"I agree; that was a shocking battle." Cheren turned around as I looked past him to see the stylish Elesa walking towards us, with Bianca and Hilbert trailing behind.

"Hi Sara!" Hilbert and Bianca greeted.

"Ah, if it isn't Elesa!"The man greeted. "Aren't festivals grand? Life should be enjoyed!" The man beamed.

Elesa smiled at him.

"Who's this?" Bianca asked curiously.

"This is Alder; he's the Unova regions champion." Elesa replied casually.

"EH? ! HE'S UNOVA REGION'S CHAMPION? !"

_To be continued…_

**Melody: I was looking at my last chapters, and I wanted to clear up that I _don't_ own the Plasma goons Susan and Derek! Clan's Warrior does! Thanks for your reviews, and please answer my new poll!**

**_Please Review! :3_**


	17. Take the test

**Melody: WHY DID IF HAVE TO BE SOCK? ! COULDN'T HAVE BEEN CRAZY BARKS? !**

**Sara: What happened to-?**

**Hilbert: She got hooked onto DTL again; she's pretty obsessive and-**

**Melody: IT'S A VERY EMOTIONAL AND DEEP GAME!**

**"…"**

**Disclaimer: Melody doesn't own Pokémon.**

**Melody: We all know that it's obviously Sara's POV so I'll give you a heads up when it's not. Please answer my Poll!**

There I was, with Cheren, Bianca, and Hilbert; not to forget Elesa, standing in front of Unova's champion.

"Wow, you're the champion? That's so cool that I get to meet you!" I beamed.

"What is the champion doing at a festival goofing off?" Cheren mumbled to me.

"I heard that remark young man." Alder said. We both froze nervously. "You're quite a judgmental young person, aren't you?" The Champion noted.

"Ummm…."

"For your information, I'm not goofing off; I'm on a voyage! In fact, I know every corner of Unova!" Alder explained.

"Oh, um, s-sorry." Cheren stammered nervously. I can see why though; Cheren was constantly mentioning and looking up to the champion.

"I-I'm Cheren, from Nuvema Town, and these are my friends, Bianca, Sara, and Hilbert. My goal is to become the Champion!" Cheren beamed, starting to get pumped up.

"Hmmm….Traveling with a goal in mind is good!" Alder complimented. "…But what do you plan on doing after becoming the Champion?"

"What else is there to do than striving to become stronger? !" Cheren answered quickly. "The strongest trainer…that's what the Champion is!"

"Becoming stronger you say…" Alder paused for a moment as if he were considering something. "Is that alone enough of a goal? Hmm…."

Cheren looked shocked as soon as Alder said that.

"I'm not saying that you're way of thinking is wrong…" Alder explained "…In my travels, I've helped many people learn to love Pokémon. I think that's important too."

Cheren looked slightly disappointed. Man, he really looked up to Alder.

"Hey, maybe if you and your friends play with these children, you'll gain more of an understanding. Would you four mind battling these four preschoolers?" Alder asked.

Ugh. "Actually, I-"

"No! We wouldn't mind at all!" Cheren interrupted.

I sighed as I brought out Larvesta's poke ball. There were four preschoolers; one came up to each one of us.

"Hi, what's your name?" I asked the cute girl who was going to battle me.

"Sarah! Hee hee, Pokémon are sooo cute! I was afwaid of them until Mr. Alder taught me that they were nice!"

I smiled. "My name's also Sara!"

"Ok! Let's battle!" The girl beamed. "Go, Lillipup!"

A Herider popped out and barked enthusiastically. I sweat dropped. That's not a Lillipup…

"Go, Larvesta!"

The girl didn't seem to know what she was doing. I tried going easy on her and telling her moves to use, but she still didn't understand. Emolga was squealing as if it were cheering for me.

"Good job Larvesta! You're getting very strong!" I congratulated.

"Lillipup, you were sooo cute!" She squealed. She didn't even seem to care, just like the other kids. Cheren was shocked at their reactions to a loss.

"Good job!" Alder congratulated. "Even though you didn't win, you're Pokémon looked like they were having fun! And you four are all amazing trainers!"

"Thank you!"

"Er, Cheren, was it?" Alder asked.

"Y-Yes." Cheren replied nervously.

"If there are people like you who pursue strength, there are also people who are just happy being with Pokémon." Alder started to explain. "When it comes to what a Champion is, you and I may hold different point of views, but that's ok!"

"What I am is a Trainer. I prove I'm right by getting stronger and winning in battle-even against the Champion." Cheren argued.

"…Just give it some thought." Alder said.

Cheren started to open his mouth to protest again, but then stopped.

"I'm going to contact Clay so you can get across the bridge. You see, he's the one who controls it." Elesa said taking out her X-Transceiver and walking over to the bridge.

"Wow she's sooo cool!" Bianca squealed. "I want to be like her when I grow up!"

Bianca sounds like a kindergartner when she says that. We heard a loud moan coming from the drawbridge as it lowered. Elesa walked over to us.

"Thank you!" I thanked.

"It was nothing." She said. "I have to get back to Nimbasa City now. Good luck!"

After she walked away, Alder gaped at my necklace.

"What a magnificent stone!" He exclaimed in awe.

"Oh, thanks! Lenora gave it to me since I had and image when I touched it!" I beamed and then sweat dropped. '_Did I just tell him that?'_

"That's quite a gift!" Alder gaped. "How did it start?"

"Let's see…." I said trying to remember. "Oh! It was of…N…"

I looked down at the floor, back into my depressed mood.

"That's a strange name." Alder said. "I've heard that name somewhere before…hmmm…N…" He said stroking his chin.

"Well, he is famous!" Bianca squealed.

Shoot. So am I.

"I believe I heard Shauntal and Caitlin talking about him." Alder said. "Do you know more about him?"

"I-I'd rather not talk about it." I stammered, still looking at the floor. "Well, I'll be heading to Driftveil City. Nice meeting you Alder, bye!" I said hastily and ran away. I didn't care if Cheren, Bianca, or Hilbert explained what happened, I really don't care anymore. Emolga flew after me.

I slowed down my paste to a walk once I reached the Driftveil Drawbridge. What's wrong with my journey? I wished for a fun journey…

Right?

Emolga could tell I was sad since it started to fly in circles around my head.

_EMOL! GAAA!_

I giggled at hugged her.

I don't remember what I wished for anyways. Something related to this journey…Oh well, I should just get my mind off of it. I looked up at the sky and scanned the bird Pokémon with my pokedex that flew above me.

"Sara!"

I turned around and saw my friends running towards me.

"Hey guys." I said trying to smile.

"You ok?" Hilbert asked.

"Eh…Just for a little while, I thought that N might've actually liked me; and only for a little while, and even so, I wasn't even sure that he actually did; it's just what I thought…"

My friends all looked at each other and frowned.

"She still can't see it; it's fine though, she doesn't seem to care now." Cheren said.

"What are you guys talking about me 'seeing' it?" I said and used my fingers to put quotation marks around the word seeing.

"It's nothing." Hilbert said.

"Sara!" Bianca scolded, changing the subject. "You forgot to wear your new clothes!"

I froze while Hilbert and Cheren laughed at me; they knew I hated clothes shopping.

"I-I guess it is kind of cold…" I said crossing my arms to keep myself warm.

We reached the end of the bridge where it led to a park with a huge statue in the middle. Driftveil City was quite large, with beaches, markets, a storage place, and other buildings.

"Let's goo!" I beamed and started to run. My friends followed close behind.

"Sara! Will you wear your new socks and your black long sleeve undershirt?" Bianca called after me.

"Sure, whatever!" I replied.

"Stop rait thar!"

My friends and I all skidded to a stop. In front of us was a large man dressed as a cowboy. He had brown hair hidden under a cowboy hat with eyes to match.

"Who are ya; I don't recognaize ya around these parts."

"I-I'm Sara and these are my friends, Cheren, Bianca and Hilbert!" I stammered nervously.

"So yer tha trainer that Elesa was talkn' 'bout." He said. "I'm Clay, the Gym Leader 'round dese 'ere parts…

"It's nice to-"

"Don't be expectin' no welcome…" Clay interrupeted. "When I lowered that dere bridge, those Team Plasma goons we'd caught escaped!"

"Team Plasma? !" I gaped. _'What do they want now?'_

"Oh no!" Bianca gasped.

"Shoot…" Hilbert muttered.

"What a bother." Cheren sighed in his arrogant way. _Shoot, he better not aggravate this Clay guy…he's upset as it is already…_

Cheren saw me give him a 'Don't push it' look, but apparently, he just ignored me.

"We're grateful that you lowered the bridge, but was it because of us that they were able to get away?"

"Humph." Clay moaned. "Ya can say whate'er ya want, but it don't make no difference."

"We're so-"

"This may be a lil' heavy handed…" Clay interrupted again. "But now that yer 'ere, ya oughtta start lookin' for Team Plasma."

_'Did he just demand us to do that? Not even asking us?'_

He sighed after we didn't say anything. "Tell ya' what, if ya find Team Plasma, I'll let ya come on down an' challenge my Gym! Life's all about give and take, ain't it?"

"Ok!" We all said. "Let's call each other if we find them!" I said, and we split up.

The city was quite large, so it was hard to find them. Since Bianca, Hilbert and I had already claimed our places to search, Cheren had to look inside people's houses.

"HA!" I taunted and stuck my tongue out at him.

Cheren fumed and stormed off to a house. I checked towards the north of the town; near the Gym, a Route, and a large building, Bianca checked near the market and the Clothes shops (of course), and Hilbert checked towards the South of the town where the docks and warehouses were.

**_Ring Ring!_**

I picked up my X-transceiver and switched it to four-way call version, where we could all see each other.

Cheren picked up right before me and we were still waiting for Bianca…

We saw Bianca's face pop up on her section.

"I think I know where they might be…" Hilbert said.

"Bianca, are you in a clothes shop?" Cheren asked, trying not to get frustrated.

"Nope!"

Cheren sighed in relief. "That's good, because we need to focu-"

"I'm in a shoe shop!" Bianca beamed innocently.

A vein appeared on Cheren's forehead.

"Let's just all go meet Hilbert!" I said, trying to stop an argument.

We all ran towards the directions that Hilbert gave us, which lead us to some sort of storage called 'The Cold Storage'.

"I think they went in here…" Hilbert said.

"You think? !" Cheren gaped.

"Isn't it all icy in there?" Bianca asked.

"Ice? !" Cheren gaped again. "Shoot, I hate cold places…"

"Don't worry!" Bianca beamed. "I'll keep you warm!" She said and wrapped Cheren in a hug. Cheren's face went red.

"One way or another she will." I said, remembering that every time my face turned red that my face was burning hot. Hilbert and Emolga laughed at this.

"What about you, Sara?" Cheren smirked at Hilbert.

"Oh, I'll be fine! I'll just wear the new things that Bianca got me!" I said.

Bianca gave me my items as I ran towards the Pokémon center to change into my undershirt. When I came back, Hilbert was laughing at Cheren as they were teasing each other.

"'Kay, let's go!" I said as we walked into the chilly storage place. I'm glad I was wearing a long sleeve T-shirt underneath and socks; even if they were over the knee length…I liked the color of gray though…

There were many storage containers with ladders leaning on them and slippery ice covered the floor. We could see out breaths whenever we sighed or breathed out. Emolga shivered, so I gave her a handkerchief that I had in my backpack.

"I'm just going to stay here; I really hate chilly places." Cheren said.

"You'll get colder if you don't move around…" I said, sliding on the ice.

"I guess Bianca could stay with you to keep you warm…" Hilbert chuckled.

Cheren's face turned crimson red at the thought of it. "Y-You know what? You guys need all the help you could get!" Cheren stammered.

"Yeah Teamwork!" Bianca beamed.

We all slid on the ice, Bianca almost fell every time. There were workers who wanted to battle us; at least there were four of us which made it easier. We also had to climb up ladders onto the containers to proceed. We reached the end of what seemed like a maze only to find a ladder leading us to a container that took us back to the beginning.

"Hey, what's this?" Bianca asked when we thought that we had reached a dead end. She pointed to a container with an opening.

"Do you think that they're in there?" Cheren asked.

"There's only one way to find out." Hilbert said as he walked forward.

We heard voices coming from inside…

"You there; in fact, all of you! Huddle around me, I can't stand this cold…"

"Yes, Lord Zinzolin!" multiple voices replied.

There were eight Plasma goons; four of them being the ones that we know. They were surrounding a man that looked like one of the Seven Sages based on the robe and headpiece that he was wearing.

"I-It's her!" Lizzie gaped.

Shoot…I guess we were found out…

"Eh?" Chris looked over in my direction and then gaped.

"Pokémon are our king's friends…" The Sage started.

"This speech again." Cheren huffed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I can't even tell if they're the real thing; hiding in a storage container like a bunch of cowards…it's pitiful, really."

All of Team Plasma got ticked off at what Cheren had said. I hope he didn't go too far…

The sage continued as if Cheren hadn't said anything. "A-As I w-was saying b-before, while we're t-taking c-care of the Pokémon, w-we can't let any h-harm come to t-them." He was shivering while he was speaking.

Cheren noticed this. "Humph, it's a bother, really, but if you're cold, we can escort you out."

"E-Everyone! D-Drive these i-intruders away!"

"Yes, Lord Zinzilon!" The Plasma grunts said in unison. "PLAAASMAAA!"

We took two each for a double battle. Bianca got Chris and Lizzie, Cheren and I both got unfamiliar grunts, while Hilbert got…Susan and Derek…poor Hilbert…

"Hilbert?" Susan asked confused.

"Yeah, I know the both of you." He glared at them, and Derek returned the glare.

These grunts that I was battling obviously must've been a lower rank than Susan, Derek, Chris and Lizzie. I was using my Audino and my Larvesta; since I use Emolga and Dewott a lot.

"LONG LIVE TEAM PLASMA!" They all yelled in despair.

We all sweat dropped. "Is it wrong that I'm actually getting used to this?" I sighed.

We heard a few pairs of loud footsteps come running in. It was Clay with some of the workers here at the Cold Storage; I couldn't quite tell who the other boy was since his hat was covering his face because he was looking down at the floor.

"Well I'll be…" Clay said. "Hidin' in a chilly ol' place like this…You guys take these Pokémon robbers."

"Yes sir!" They all said and took some of the grunts and the Sage.

"Brendon? !" I asked shockingly.

"Hey, wassup?" He gave us a peace sign.

"Pffft…" Derek moaned. "Why don't you just give up and stop trying to meddle with us?"

"Because…" Brendon started. "I have new friends, new Pokémon, and a new adventure. I don't believe you've gained anything." Brendon finished, aggravating Derek.

"Tch-"

They all walked out with the exception of Clay.

"Weeell, a deal's a deal." He sighed. "Ya' all ain't so bad after all! Come on and challenge my Gym…"

"Yes!" We all cheered while Clay was walking out.

"I'm going first!" Cheren ordered.

"Wait!" I said stopping him, and then I smirked.

"What is it now, Sara?" He huffed impatiently.

"What does it matter anyways? You have to wait for Bianca to beat him…"

"Why? !" Cheren retorted.

"Because~…" I paused to aggravate him. "Her dad told you to take care of her~…"

Cheren's face went crimson red at hearing this. Hilbert and I both laughed at him while Bianca stood there clueless.

I rushed towards the Gym while they were having their moment.

It's show time…

N's POV

_Meanwhile…_

"…I want to test those trainers…" Ghestis told me. "Not just any of them…That girl…that stupid, wretched girl…"

_She's not any of those things… _"But why-"

"Just do it!" He yelled at me, and then walked out of the entrance of the cave.

I sighed and sat down on the floor. I heard three figures approach me.

"Yo, king, why so down?" The youngest member of the Shadow Triad greeted.

"Honestly, I don't know…"

"Heartbroken, that must be it!" The middle sibling beamed.

I felt my face go warm, something that hasn't happened before; that is, until I started my journey.

"Aw, I think he is!" The youngest grabbed me in a playful choke.

After he let go, there was a moment of silence.

"Sooo…I just wait here until she comes?" I asked.

"Yup!"

"Basically."

"That is correct."

I sighed. "But how long could that take?"

"I dunno…"

I sat back down on the cold floor of the cave. "What if she tries to run away from me? She seemed mad when she saw me…maybe, I don't know…"

"We'll take care of that King!" The youngest gave me a thumbs up.

"Yes, we won't try to reveal our identities, so we won't say much and disguise our voices like we usually do!" The middle child beamed, and the oldest nodded in agreement.

"Are you going to ask for forgiveness?" The oldest finally spoke.

"My dad wouldn't like that…"I sighed.

"So? !" The youngest huffed. "You're the king! You can do what you want! You can fire him if he gets ticked off at you!"

"Tch- I wish…"

"You wish?" He asked in confusion.

"He's my dad, remember? It's confusing…"

"Just do it! Ghestis won't know!"

"I guess I could try…" I sighed.

"You better! This is the only time I'm going against Ghestis; after all, he did save me and my bro's lives!" He said.

I don't know why they cared enough to go against his orders.

"Ok. Thank you."

"You're welcome Lord N." They all said in unison and walked off into the deeper parts of the cave.

I listened to the wild Pokémon in the cave speak. They seemed so happy here, and free. Not trapped in those poke balls and under the commands of trainers…

Like Sara.

I didn't understand it; she traps them inside those damned things and uses them for battle! How could her Pokémon ever be happy or loyal to her? !

I guess I'll have to find out.

Sara's POV

_A few minutes later…_

I heard my friends laughing as they were chasing after me.

"Slow down!" The all yelled.

"I don't think that I'll be doing that anytime soon!" I laughed back.

At least I was feeling happy now. The cool ocean breeze hitting my face, everyone laughing and in a good mood…

Except that crowd around the Gym just ruined it.

We all skidded to a stop. Ghestis, of all lovely people, was talking to Clay. Brendon looked like he was just about to leave. I heard him curse something under his breath as he walked back over to Clay.

Ghestis looked over at us quickly and then put his focus back on Clay.

"Clay, it's a pleasure to meet you…" Ghestis started in his usual arrogant way. My friends and I all rolled our eyes; even Bianca! My Emolga and Brendon's Oshawott snarled at him.

"I've come to pick up my associates who are in your…hnn, _care."_ He smirked.

"I don't need no thanks now!" Clay argued. "You're fellas 'ere were tryn' to steal some folks Pokémon!"

_"Yeah, Clay's fighting back!"_ I cheered mentally to myself. I probably looked like an idiot grinning cheesily, but I didn't care since Ghestis looked even more like one himself with his stupid red eye thingy, and his stupid robe…probably got it off of some cosplay website…

I snapped myself out of my thoughts and tuned back in to the argument.

"Hmm? Oh, there seems to be a misunderstanding…" He said, starting to trick Clay. "We only free Pokémon from wicked people."

"Then why don't you start with yours?" I said, louder than I expected. He whipped his head around and glared at me. Emolga squeaked to chip in.

_"Shoot, I said that louder than I thought…"_ I thought, trying not to flinch.

Clay sighed. "Weeell, that _would_ sound reeeal nice…ya know…if it were true…"

"Ouch!" I mumbled to myself, making sure that I was doing it quietly this time.

"I may not talk purty like yerself, but at least I'm an honest man. Ya talk real nice, but what your sayn' sounds like lyn'. So tell me plain, what are ya sayn'?"

Ghestis smirked. "Team Plasma also has a…_interest_ in Driftveil City. And we have many, many more members who aren't here."

"Humph. I can't tail if yer lyin' er not, but I reckon you've won this without a fight. Take em and git!" Clay yelled angrily.

"A decision worthy of one called the Miner King. You have a great grasp of the situation." Ghestis said, trying to con Clay. "Well then, I will be taking our King's colleagues off of your hands."

"Thank you Ghestis…" Sage Zinzolin thanked.

"Do not worry fellow servant of the _King_." Ghestis emphasized that last word as he gave me a sideways glance.

_"Is he just doing that to get me ticked off? !"_ I clenched my fists at my sides to try to keep from yelling.

"We are two of the Seven Sages, are we not?" He paused, and then chuckled to himself. "Well then, Sara, I expect that you will be seeing us again sometime soon…"

I clenched my fists even harder; so hard than it hurt to; to keep myself from flinching or shivering in fear of his voice. I kept my ice cold glare on him until he walked out of sight.

Brendon and Clay walked up to us.

"Sorry to let Team Plasma go after ya tracked 'em down…" He apologized.

I shook my head. "That's not what's worrying me."

We all stayed silent for a while.

"Weell then, why don't we cheer ourselves up with a Pokémon battle?" Clay suggested.

"Ok! Just give me a second."

"Don't keep me waitn' too long." Clay said as he walked into the Gym.

"He took a while to get used to." Cheren huffed.

"Heck, I'm still getting used to him!" I said.

"Brendon, did you beat Clay yet?" Hilbert asked.

He nodded and pulled out a brown Gym badge.

"Bob, what types of Pokémon does Clay use?"Bianca asked.

Brendon sweat dropped. "_Poor Brendon…when will Bianca ever get his name right?"_

"Umm…Ground type; water and grass types do really good against them, and ground types don't affect flying types at all…But electric types don't stand a chance against them; and fire types are weak against them."

Cheren took note to how quickly Brendon said this. "Impressive; you really know your types."

"Y-Yep!" He stammered. "I went on an adventure in Sinnoh too! Well, I'm going to Mistralton City. See ya' guys!" He walked off and waved as his Oshawott hoping onto his shoulder.

"I'm going to challenge Clay!" I said as I ran into the Gym. Dewott should do awesome against Clay's Pokémon! I walked inside the Gym and saw a huge platform at the end of the room. It was eerily quiet…too quiet…

"The platform serves as an elevator!"

"WHOA!" I turned around quickly and saw a lady standing behind a desk.

"Ooopsies, did I scare you? Sorry!" She apologized. "I'm Teresa, filling in for Cameron today!"

_"Cameron? Oh! That must've been one of Clyde's relatives…"_

"Ok, thank you!"I said and stood on the platform. I waited for it to go down, but nothing happened…

Nothing.

I looked around for buttons, but the only things that stood out were these two arrows; a red one pointed up, and a green one pointed down.

I pushed the green one curiously. The cart jolted down.

"WHOA!" I yelled and held onto a bar. Emolga squealed as if it were laughing at me, the same way that I did to Cheren earlier.

We had gone underground; at least, what it looked like; with narrow steel pathways that turned in every which way.

A maze.

With elevators.

This should be fun. I walked on the narrow pathway nervously, especially since Emolga would simply glide next to me. I had to go up on some roller coasters, and down on others. It took me such a long time to finally get to the last elevator. It took me down a long way until it reached a steel floor; I was about to walk onto it, when it suddenly split open in half. The elevator continued to go down. It led to a room with crystals and what looked to be mining machines.

I saw Clay standing in front of a chair as I walked towards him.

"Well, I think it's about time to what it is about yer skills that made Elesa take such a shine to ya'"

_Meanwhile…_

Hilbert's POV

"Let's go shopping!" Bianca squealed.

"NO!" Cheren and I yelled in unison.

"PLEEEEASE?"

"NOOOOO!"

This went on for a quite a long time until I heard my X-Transceiver ring.

"Oh! It's Brendon." I said. Cheren and Bianca stopped arguing and came over to me.

"Hey Brendon."

"Hey Hilbert!" He greeted.

_"Osh!"_ His Oshawott on his shoulder raised up its paw.

"Is Sara there?" He asked.

Cheren smirked as I felt a ting of jealousy go through me. "Actually, she's challenging the Gym Leader."

"Oh, ok. I'll have to tell you guys then…

"What's up?"

"Have you heard of Chargestone Cave?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah, it's the cave right on the next route that leads to Mistralton City, right?" Cheren pushed up his glasses.

Brendon nodded. "You see, I can't talk too loudly because…" He paused to look around. "…Team Plasma members are everywhere here!"

"What? !" We all yelled. I hated Team Plasma now; even more than ever. Especially since N hurt Sara like that; just a bunch of sleaze balls.

"Shhh!" Brendon hissed as he looked around nervously. "…And I ran into N…"

"Tch- what does that fake want now? !"

Brendon frowned for some reason, and then continued to talk. "He said something about testing Sara."

"WHAT'S HE GOING TO DO TO HER NOW? !" I yelled.

Brendon face palmed. "Keep it down! They're going to hear me! Honestly, I don't know…so I just wanted to warn her."

I nodded. "We'll tell her, don't worry."

"OH! OH!" Bianca jumped up and down. "Didn't Sara say that one of her visions was in a cave?"

"BIANCA!" Cheren and I glared at her.

"Oopsies…" She sweat dropped.

Brendon looked around nervously. "Visions?"

I sighed. "Yeah, for some reason, Sara gets these visions where she can see the future."

"Hmm…N mentioned something about a future that he envisioned…" Brendon said.

"This is messed up…" I moaned.

"Good to know that other people think that." He chuckled.

"Anyways, she said she had one in a cave with glowing blue lights."

"Yup. That's Chargestone cave alright." He said. We heard loud footsteps in Brendon's background.

"Shoot, they heard me! I gotta go, see ya'!" He said hastily and hung up.

"Hmmm…We're more involved in this than I thought…" Cheren noticed.

"No!" I retorted sarcastically.

Cheren just rolled his eyes at this.

"Sara has to take a test? ! But I thought we graduated trainer school…" Bianca asked.

"No, No Bianca." Cheren started to explain. "See, I really don't know what kind of test they're going to do, but it's not the kind of tests you're thinking of."

"Well, if you don't know, then how are you sure that it's not the kind of tests that I'm thinking of?" Bianca argued.

"Well, because-"

"Ooooh! Go shopping with me!"

"NO!"

Sara's POV

"Well, I see, but I sure don't like it! Fer such a young un' ya have an extraordinary battle style…and ya got yer companions who can help dig out yer potential! Mrph…here take this." Clay congratulated and gave me a Gym badge.

"YES! THANK YOU!" I beamed and ran out of the Gym. I saw my friends arguing.

"PLEEEASE?"

"NO!"

I sighed. "Bianca, I'll go shopping with you."

"REALLY? YAY!" She ran up and hugged me.

Hilbert and Cheren sighed in relief.

"Wait, Sara!"

"Yeah?" I turned around and smiled.

"Brendon said something about Team Plasma-"

"I don't want to hear about them. NO-THING!" I said.

"But it's a warning-"

"NO-THING!"

"You sure?"

"It must be serious if you're asking me if I'm sure, but I don't want to remember them." I said.

"Ok, I won't tell you, just remember your visions." Hilbert advised.

My visions…most of them have happened…but there was that one with the ninja's! That had to be it!

I'm going to have to stop that from happening, aren't I?

**_A few hours later…_**

All of my friends had beat Clay. We were in our room exhausted.

"I'm going to wake up a little earlier than you guys, ok?"

"Ok."

We were discussing the plan so that I could prevent my vision.

"…And you guys trail behind me, but not too close; if you can see me, then you're too close."

"OK GOOD NIGHT!" They all yelled at me.

**_The next morning…_**

I felt someone gently touch my shoulder.

"Hnnn?" I opened my eyes and saw Hilbert standing above me. The light was hitting on him so that his face and hair shone in the morning sunlight shining through the window. His brown eyes shone beautifully at me. In my fantasy world, sparkles would've surrounded him, and-

What's wrong with me?

My life is screwed up as it is!

"Sara! You were supposed to wake up earlier than us! Remember, 'Operation stop the ninja's form attacking me'?" Bianca pouted.

"Shoot! I got to get ready!" I quickly got ready. Once I was finished, it was 7:30.

"What kind of Operation name is that?" Cheren asked.

"I was tired, ok?"

"OK!"

As I walked down the route I got lost in thought about my journey.

Man, if my Mom was here, she would either be teasing me or constantly worrying about me.

**_Ring Ring!_**

Wow, speaking of which…

"Hey Mom!" I beamed, trying not to sound annoyed.

"Hey honey! How's your journey?"

"Great!"

"Are you treating your Pokémon kindly?" She asked worriedly.

"Of course! Why?"

"Well, last night, the King of Team Plasma was on the news!"

_Shoot…_

"R-Really? Yeah, I think I've seen him around!" I lied; I _have_ 'seen him around'.

"Well, he's tall, lanky, has long green hair that matches his eyes, a crooked grin, pale skin, and…he's very handsome…" My mom mumbled the last part.

I felt myself turn red. "Oh yeah! I believe I've met him! What did you say at the end?" I asked, pretending that I didn't hear the last part.

My mom giggled. "Nothing! Yeah, I don't get it! He said something about liberating Pokémon from people who keep them in poke balls! And it would make sense if you met him since he mentioned you!"

_Fantastic…_

"Ok, got to go Mom! I don't like talking about Team Plasma; I kind of made enemies with a certain Seventh Sage and the King himself!"

"…Ok, but I also wanted to tell you that Manami and Anne flew over to Unova from Hoenn!"

Really? !" I gaped. Those were my two best friends from Hoenn; no, we were practically family! We were all childhood friends back in Littleroot! And we would play with Professor Birch's Pokémon and have so much fun!

"Yeah! They wanted to become Pokémon trainers, but there's some psycho gang of Pokémon robbers running around; I thought that it was safe here until I heard of Team Plasma…" My mom sighed.

"Where'd they fly into? !"

"Mistralton Airport!"

"Cool! I'm almost in that City! See ya' later Mom!"

"Bye-Bye! Take care!"

I couldn't help but squealing in joy. "YAY! MANAMI AND ANNE! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU GUYS!" Emolga cheered along with me as it flew in circles. I hadn't realized how far I had walked until I reached the mouth of the cave.

"Time to change my vision." I mumbled to myself epically.

I walked in dramatically. I looked around for ninja's, and then I started to dash forward. I felt two hands grab each one of my arms and someone grab my shoulders.

I looked to each side of me and behind me.

"Crap. And weren't _you_ the one who saved me?" I asked the on behind me.

He sweat dropped.

"This must be awkward for you." The one with red eyes said to my former rescuer as they pushed me forward.

They turned me around to a corner where I saw…

N.

I guess I'm going to have to take the test now.

**Melody: I START SCHOOL TOMMOROW! UGH! I just wanted to write one more chapter for you guys before I go, if you read my profile, you'll see why.**

**_Please review!_**

**_And if you want to read something from Brendon's POV, read Clan's Warrior's story!_**


	18. Ideals and Introductions

**Melody: BLARGH, SCHOOL STARTED! I don't own Pokémon!**

N was standing there in front of me, his eyes narrowed as if he were analyzing me for a change.

"…Sara…"

I didn't even answer. I just kept a glare on him.

_"GAAH!"_ Emolga glared at N.

"Well, gotta go, bye!" One of the ninja's cut in.

As if things couldn't get any weirder, all three of the ninja's _literally _vanished into thin air; making a weird slashing noise doing so.

"Ok, who and what-"

"That was the Shadow Triad." He answered curtly. His gray-green eyes were still narrowed, slightly less than before, his jaw was tight, and his chapped lips were pursed.

"Shadow Triad?"

He nodded. "Ghestis enlisted them in Team Plasma when he first met them."

There was an awkward silence…

"Chargestone Cave…I like-"

"EEEEEK!" I screamed and jumped up towards N.

"_JOLT-IK!"_

I brought my pokedex out to scan the spider Pokémon.

I snapped back into the real world. I noticed that I had jumped so close to N that my hands were on his chest; I could feel gentle, but somehow nervous breathing.

Emolga smiled mischievously.

I backed away quickly. "I-Umm…Sorry, I don't really like spiders…."

I thought I heard a chuckle in the background. I saw N hold his hand up; at that, then I heard moaning, and then that same slashing noise that was made when the Shadow Triad disappeared.

He smiled slightly. "I like this place though…Formula's express electricity as its collection to Pokémon…If people didn't exist, this would be an ideal place. The Pokémon's voices here are different; they're so free and happy…"

"You're always talking about formulas." I mumbled.

He paused for a moment, and then changed the subject. "You're special, Sara." He paused, and I saw his face turn red, I couldn't help but do the same. "You've been chosen by us. Does that surprise you?"

"Chosen? By us, do you mean Team Plasma? Well, of course I would be! I'm still processing the fact that you're the…King…" I said. Wow, I can barely say that!

"Why, of course! It should be a surprise." He replied.

"So…what exactly is the Shadow Triad? What's the difference between them and Plasma go-…grunts?" I corrected myself at the end, remembering that it was the Plasma King that I was talking to.

"Apparently, Ghestis assigned the Shadow Triad to…find out about you and your friends…" he mumbled during the last part, his face flushing pink.

"Basically, Ghestis sent the Shadow Triad to spy on us? !" I clenched my hands into fists.

He nodded shyly.

"Oh, that's _so_ very mature of him!" I fumed to myself.

"A-Anyways, I believe the Shadow Triad said that Cheren has focused his ideals onto strength, while Bianca isn't quite sure if she can become a Pokémon trainer or not." He said. "You and Hilbert are both alike, not swayed either way, more of a neutral presence; which is apparently a good thing."

I couldn't help but shiver. _"Someone's been spying on me and my friends this whole journey…"_

"There's a slight difference between the both of you though…" He said. "I'm pretty sure I can tell, but I'm not 100% sure that my hypothesis is correct." He frowned.

There was yet another moment of silence.

"Oh well, Team Plasma will be waiting for you ahead." He continued as he turned around. "Ghestis; and I as well, want to figure out what kind of trainer you really are."

I noticed his cube bobbing back and forth as he was walking away. "Hey, is that a Menger Sponge?" I asked curiously.

He looked down at the object that I was talking about. "Why, yes. It expresses the formulas and equations that I need to save the Pokémon." He walked away soon after he said that. Emolga looked over at me sympathetically.

"SARA!"

I saw Bianca excitedly running into the cave with Cheren, and Hilbert.

"Did the plan succeed?" Cheren asked, pushing up his glasses.

I shook my head. "I also ran into the King."

"What plan? And a King?"

I turned around at the sound of the familiar voice. "Professor Juniper? !"

"Sorry, sorry, I was just curious…How are you?"

"Good, for the most part." I answered.

"This place is always charged with electricity that draws the Pokémon to it!" Professor Juniper beamed.

"Oh! Oh! Look!" Bianca pointed to a bright blue floating stone that was suspended in air.

"Whoa!"

"If I'm correct, these floating stones can be moved when you touched them, right Professor?" Cheren stated boastingly.

Professor Juniper nodded. "Wow Cheren! Yes, that's correct, and the stones are floating because of the electrical charges from each other. Not all of them can be pushed though."

"Well, of course." Cheren agreed.

"What brings you here, Professor?" I asked curiously.

"Well, my dad asked me to research Klink, a Pokémon that looks like a gear, because I'm researching the origins of them and the time that they appeared." Professor Juniper explained.

"Oh, we can help you!"I exclaimed.

"Really? That would be great!" She beamed.

I sighed. "Well, I'll be going now."

"Oh, Sara!" Bianca said. "I'm going to stay here and protect Prof. Juniper! She probably doesn't need help, but since Iris protected me, I should do the same!"

_"Oh yeah…Back in Castelia City when Bianca's Pokémon got stolen."_

"And Cheren and I will help with Team Plasma!" Hilbert exclaimed.

"Ah, yes I've heard of them." Professor Juniper said. "Wanting to liberate Pokémon? Such a strange thing…and I heard that their King is quite young! Just rumors, I'm not quite sure actually."

"Yeah, I know, I'm leaving now. See ya, Professor!" I said and ran away before Hilbert and Cheren could catch up. I soon noticed that the floating stones blocking my path floated over to a large blue stone when I touched them. The only problem was that I didn't know where those rocks were all the time.

There were a lot of those spider Pokémon called Joltik and many other electric type Pokémon. I didn't see any Pokémon that resembled a gear though…I scanned all of them with my pokedex anyways.

I eventually reached a wooden bridge that hovered over a big and long gap. I carefully walked on it; just to be safe. Then I heard that same slashing noise as the ninjas appeared and assumed the places they were before.

"Wha-"

"…Come…"

_"When did they get so serious?" _I wondered to myself as they dragged or "escorted" me across the bridge.

When they let go of me, I brushed off of my black long sleeve undershirt. "I know how to walk; you know that, _right?"_ I retorted with a huge amount of sarcasm in the coldest voice I could.

Their eyes remained expressionless, but somehow filled with hurt. "_Did I really sound that mean?"_

"Team Plasma's waiting for you down those stairs." One of them finally spoke.

"I would've figured out eventually." I retorted yet again in the same tone. I was sick of Team Plasma's stupid plans; and these ones were watching me and my friends…

They warped out of the room as I walked down the stairs. There were a ton of Plasma grunts!

"Crap…"

"Don't worry Sara. Cheren and I will help."

"WH-WHOA! YOU SCARED ME HILBERT!" I jumped back. Emolga also screamed.

"Ha ha…Sorry…" He apologized and sweat dropped. We all walked forward. Cheren and Hilbert took the first two grunts.

"We're supposed to test…her." One of the Plasma Goons said and pointed at me.

"You can test us too." Cheren said.

"We're not going to let you battle her." Hilbert joined in.

The Plasma grunt sighed. "…Fine…Go, Watchog!"

"Thank you guys!" I thanked and ran further into the cave.

A female goon soon stopped me. "You-You're the one that my Lord N's worried about!"

"Worried about? Haha, no, that's probably not me!" I laughed and tried to get past her.

"No, I think it is; Sara, right?" She asked.

"Yeah that's me…" I sighed.

"Go, Liepard!" She commanded. A purple cat like Pokémon appeared and meowed.

"Go, Dewott!" I said and threw his poke ball forward. "Use Razor Shell!"

"_DE-WOTT!" _Dewott threw both of his shells inward curving in towards the Liepard.

"Leipard, use Pursuit!"

I dodged the action of the battle and tried to at least get a clear shot of Liepard. "Dewott, water gun!"

Her Liepard was fairly easy to defeat, the battle ending in a couple other turns.

"Why…is Lord N worried about his enemy?" The female goon asked herself in confusion.

I felt warmth travel to my face. "H-He isn't. He couldn't be…Oh well…" I said and walked away.

"Wait!" She called. "He said so…Lord N wouldn't lie like that."

I turned around to look at her. "Yeah, that explains why he never told me he was the King until a few days ago." I retorted sarcastically.

"B-But he was just scared! He didn't think it would hurt you; heck, I don't even know if it was his idea! I'm just a lowly grunt…I wouldn't know anything that happens in the higher ranks…"

I considered what she said for a second.

"You should be happy that he's worrying about you…ya know, with all his fan girls and stuff…" She continued, her face flushing pink.

"Honestly, I don't know who to believe. I just need to get the Gym Badges so that I could keep Pokémon and people together; I'm just going to move on. With my life"

I thought I heard a muttered "I don't care if she's my enemy, SHE'S SO COOL!"

I sweat dropped and then moved on to battle a few other Plasma Grunts. There were a ton of them! I'm glad Cheren and Hilbert were helping. I battled what seems like a hundred of them, and then Chris and Lizzie appeared.

"AHA! It's Juliet!" Lizzie sneered.

"WHY DO YOU PEOPLE KEEP CALLING ME THAT? ! I have nothing else to do with him unless it's stopping him!" I yelled, referring to N.

"She still can't see it…" My friends and the familiar Plasma goons muttered at the same time.

"AGH! I OUTTA-!"

"Sara!" Hilbert interrupted. "You go up to battle N! I'm pretty sure that's part of the test too! You better get ready to battle him!"

"But-"

"Don't worry, we've got it…" He assured me.

"Hilbert…Thank you!" I thanked as I ran away.

I ran up a steep slope and saw sunshine.

_"Yes! It must be over!' _I thought to myself.

"Stop!"

"UGH!" I moaned and looked at Plasma goons Susan and Derek.

"Why, if it isn't-"

"Yeah yeah, Juliet whatever!" I interrupted. "Let me guess, I have to battle you two now."

They both nodded. "We're actually going to _try_ this time."

I was confused at first when she said that, but then I remembered them back in Nimbasa City.

_"Oh, that's right…they were barely even trying…"_

"Go, Ampharos!" Susan screamed.

"Go, Rypherior!" Derek yelled.

Susan sent out a Pokémon that looked slightly familiar to me since I lived in Hoenn. Derek's, however, looked completely new to me. Both of these Pokémon looked super strong…I don't know what I was going to do…

"Susan? Derek?"

They turned around and saw N standing there.

"N Sama!"Susan stammered as they both knelt down.

"I can take it from here." He said.

"B-But-"

"Susan."

She sighed. "As you wish, N-sama." They both got up and walked towards where I had entered to get up to this level.

"You got lucky this time. N-sama won't be there to save you next time." Susan whispered to me as she walked by. I couldn't help but shiver from the coldness of her voice.

"Many different values and ideals mix together…" N started to say. "…and the world becomes tragically gray; that's unforgivable!"

_"What does he mean by 'gray?" "_What-"

He must've read my mind; if that was possible, by the next thing he said. "I'll separate Pokémon and people; then, and only then, black and white will be separated! Pokémon _will _become perfection!"

_"Oh, it must be some kind of analogy." _"Is…that your goal in life?" I asked sadly.

His gray eyes locked onto mine. "Yeah, of course that's my dream! Don't you have a dream?"

"I guess so…I…want to do the best I can for my dad; that's what he would've wanted anyways. So currently, that would be becoming the best Pokémon Trainer I can be-kind, loving, strong, and honest." I admitted.

He smiled. "That's wonderful…Please battle me, I want to understand more about you and your dream."

I blushed, and then smiled determinedly. "_That's right; no matter how nice he might be being to me right now, I have to stop him from separating Pokémon and people."_

_"_Ok. Go, Dewott!"

N took out a poke ball and held it close to him. "My friend, please do your best." He said and then summoned a spherical "plant-like" Pokémon with green thorns. I pulled out my pokedex to scan it, even if N didn't approve of it.

_Ferroseed: When threatened, it attacks by shooting a barrage of spikes, which gives it a chance to escape by rolling away._

"D-Do you believe that Pokémon battles help us understand…each other?" He asked after his move, his face slightly flushing pink.

"Yeah, I think so. I know so many people much better now." I answered, and then commanded Dewott to use its move.

He frowned. "Oh…that's how you feel about it…" He said…_Disappointed?_

He sent out two other Pokémon in order after I defeated them. I noticed that they were both native to this cave.

"Go, Klink!" He commanded and sent out a gear looking Pokémon. This seemed to be his last Pokémon; and we both had an equal amount which was four.

Wait…a Klink? Didn't Professor Juniper mention something about that?

"Let's go, Larvesta!" I said, and then brought out my pokedex to get a clear shot of the Klink. "Use Flame charge!"

His Klink was strong! He used many strategic moves which lowered my Pokémon's defense. Our Pokémon were equally matched for each other. A few minutes later, our Pokémon were just as equally tired.

"I'll show you that my love for my friends fills every cell of my being-Behold!" He yelled. With that, his Klink started to charge up with electricity.

"I love Pokémon too!" I retorted sourly. "Larvesta, use Flame thrower!" I commanded.

Both of our Pokémon's attack's collided into a bright explosion. Dust and debris surrounded our level of the cave.

Both of our Pokémon were on the ground. "It's a draw…" He stuttered quietly.

"Larvesta, are you ok? !" I asked, kneeling beside my Pokémon. "Good job, buddy. Return…."

N mumbled something to his Pokémon, and then returned it to its poke ball.

I brushed the dust off of my pokedex, making sure that it hadn't broken during the explosion.

"Don't you see? !" He cried out. "My friends are getting hurt; that's really what a Pokémon battle is!"

"N…"

The moment of silence was interrupted by a clicking sound coming from my pokedex. I looked at my screen and started to read what it said:

_Klink: The two minigears that mesh together are predetermined. Each will rebound from other minigears without-_

Before I could finish reading, I was pulled up by the wrist that held my pokdex.

I tried to control my blush from our faces being so close together. "N-What-"

"WHY? Why can't I beat you without feeling sorry for you?" He cried out in confusion. I saw his eyes watering up. I started to lose my balance since he pulled my wrist past his head which made me stand on the tip of my toes.

"You were worried about me…" I said softly.

"Not only that- How could trainers like _you_ pursue your ideals by something as meaningless as a battle?" He was now crying. I felt some of his tears fall onto my face, while the rest fell to the floor.

I'm actually starting to feel guilty.

"How can _I_ pursue my ideals this way? Even more, befriend the legendary Pokémon?"

"_Legendary…Pokémon?"_ I asked myself in confusion.

He let go of my wrist and turned his back towards me. "I'm sorry, Sara. I just…" He stopped there.

I stayed silent a while from the sudden shock. _"What's going on? I got myself wrapped into something big here."_

"_EEMOL!"_

I turned around and saw Emolga with my friends and Professor Juniper running towards us.

"Emolga! I hadn't even noticed that you were gone!" I exclaimed, and then hugged her.

"I knew I heard Sara's voice!" Bianca beamed and then fist pumped. "I _told_ you Cheren!"

Cheren sighed, and then smiled slightly at Bianca.

"Oh, Professor Juniper! I found Klink like you wanted!" I beamed happily. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw N immediately whip his head around.

"You found it?" Hilbert gaped in astonishment. "How? Not even we could find it!"

"I didn't really find it…" I said, feeling a soft blush cover my cheeks.

"Thank you, Sara!" She exclaimed, moving her light brown hair behind her ear. "Oh, who this trainer? Is he a new friend?"" She asked looking over my shoulder at N.

"This is awkward…" I mumbled to myself.

"This is N." Hilbert said, cleverly avoiding the situation that it might've gotten us into.

"Oh, nice to meet you N. I'm Aurea Juniper, but you can just call me Professor Juniper." She introduced and held her hand out.

N looked down at her hand and the quickly put his focus back on to her. "What are you thinking?"

Professor Juniper hesitantly put her hand back at her side. "Umm, what exactly do you mean?"

"Professor Juniper, you appear to have no worries about the relationship of people and Pokémon!"

"Well, I don't think I should-"

"You put Pokémon in different categories using illogical rules based on their strengths and weakness!" He interrupted. "…and _you _have the nerve to think that you can understand them like that! The very idea of the pokedex sickens me! What do you have to say for yourself? !" he yelled angrily.

We all stood there in shock. _"Wow…He really believes his ideals-and he loves his Pokémon dearly…."_

Professor Juniper took in a deep breath, trying not to lose her patience. "Well, you're not my biggest fan…" She mumbled to herself. "Look, N was it? Your opinion about Pokémon is very understandable, but all of our opinions are equally different." She explained, gesturing to us. "Wouldn't it be nice if all of us could get to decide for themselves how to relate to Pokémon?"

"So, you're saying that I should just allow people to think the way they want and treat the Pokémon however they want no matter how much the Pokémon suffer? !" He argued, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

"No-"

"I refuse to put up with the existence of a world like that!" He yelled and then stormed out of the cave.

"He didn't seem like he would've changed his mind right away." Professor Juniper sighed.

"Of course not, he's the King of Team Plasma!" Bianca beamed casually.

I face palmed. The whole idea was to avoid the situation!

"Hmm…that makes sense." Professor Juniper said. "Anyways, I _did_ find some data other than Klink itself. There is no data to prove that Klink's existent a hundred years ago like this cave…" Professor Juniper paused and put her finger on her chin as if she were jogging her thoughts. "…So that must mean that Klink suddenly appeared a hundred years ago! That has to be it! Ahhh, I love breaking through!" She exclaimed, her cyan colored eyes shining determinedly.

"…"

"I personally think that if we study Pokémon, that we can become closer to them and understand them!" She beamed. "Well, this cave has caught my interest. I'm going to stay here and research more. I have a hypothesis that there's something important about this cave."

"Professor, what's a hypothesis?" Bianca asked curiously.

"It's an educated guess. I'm not completely sure that there's something important about this cave, it's just what I think. You have to establish; or pick something, to research on before you come up with a hypothesis."

"Oh, ok." Bianca said.

"That's a shocker. Cheren didn't interrupt her." Hilbert said jokingly.

_"There's a slight difference between the both of you though…I'm pretty sure I can tell, but_ _I'm not 100% sure that my hypothesis is correct."_

I shook that thought off of my mind. There's no way that N would want to research me and my friends…

Right?

"Professor, is it okay if I go with my friends?" Bianca asked. "I don't know what I want to do yet, but maybe if I keep traveling I can finally find my way!"

Professor Juniper smiled. "Yes, of course! I'll see you guys later! Have fun!"

"Bye Professor!" We all called out as she walked away.

"Let's go. Mistraltion City is up ahead." Cheren ordered as he pushed up his glasses.

"I forgot to tell you guys! My childhood friends from Hoenn are coming to visit!" I beamed.

"Really? That's great Sara." Hilbert smiled.

"Let's goo! Bianca beamed. We all walked out of the cave and faced the blinding afternoon light. Our eyes finally adjusted to the light after a few seconds. The city was luscious with grass and vegetable greenhouses with a few houses, but pretty much the whole city was covered by an airport runway!

"Wow!" I beamed. I saw a tiny group standing on the runway. I walked up to the security guard by the runway.

"Isn't it kind of dangerous to stand on the runway?' I asked.

He shook his head. "The plane only comes back here once a day, so its fine as long as you don't wreck everything here."

"Oh, ok. Thank you!" I said. I looked at the group again and saw a familiar face.

"Hey, you guys, it's Brendon!" I beamed. "Brendon!" I called out.

He looked over at me and waved for us to come over here. We all came over you him. Standing next to him on the right stood a girl with shoulder blonde hair and pale blue eyes. She stood as tall almost as tall as Brendon, which was really tall. On Brendon's left side stood a tall brown haired and brown eyed guy. He was buff and tall, but not as tall as N. To the left of him, was a girl with a collected aura surrounding her. Her hair reached the middle of her back, and had vibrant green eyes in between the color of Bianca and N's. The guy had his arm wrapped securely around her waist, obviously showing a relationship.

"Sara, this is Marie, Jason and Hannah. I've never met Marie before, but Jason and Hannah are my friends back from Sinnoh." He introduced.

"Hi, nice to meet you all!" I beamed. "These are my friends, Cheren, Bianca and Hilbert!"

"Nice to meet you too." They all said.

"Hey Sara, I ran into 'Lord N'" He mocked.

I laughed at the mocking voice he used. "I did too; I just battled him a few minutes ago."

"Oh, I battled him yesterday." He said. "Did you win?" He asked me.

"Tied. You?"

"Oh, I won. It was hard though since he kept calling it sickening how I was training my Pokémon and keeping them in poke balls; I don't get why though, I think I'm doing just fine."

I nodded. "Don't worry, you're doing fine!"

"How did he insult you?" He asked.

"Hmm…He didn't really. He just said that he felt sorry for me." I replied.

"Of course he did…" He muttered annoyed. I looked at him confused.

"Oh, Brendon?" Marie asked. "Is N that guy with the green hair that you were telling us about?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I finally got to beat him; at least once, to get back at him."

"Hell ya you beat him!" Jason exclaimed. "You are Sinnoh's-"

Brendon nudged him in the ribcage. "I'm a trainer in Unova!" He interrupted and then smiled cheesily. We all looked at the scene confused.

"Jason, did you _really_ think that Brendon would want everyone to know? You can't just assume that…" The brunette cooed.

"HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW? !" Jason yelled. We all did a double take when he yelled. He must have a short temper!

The girl, Hannah, smiled slightly. "It's something called common sense, my dear~…"

"DAMMIT, HANNAH!" He yelled.

She giggled softly.

_"She's enjoying this? !"_

"Calm down dear!"

"YOU WERE JUST DOING THAT FOR LAUGHS, WEREN'T YOU? !"

"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't." She aggravated, and then added a playful wink.

"AGHHHH!"

We all sweat dropped.

"I see…he's the hot-headed short-tempered one while she's the calm, cool, and collected one." Cheren said.

"OMA (oh my arcues)! THEY MAKE THE PERFECT COUPLE!" Bianca squealed happily.

"But they're complete opposites!" Cheren said loudly, trying to get his voice through the arguing.

"Opposites attract, no?" Bianca said and then winked playfully at Cheren. Cheren's face immediately went beet red.

"It's true Cheren…" Hilbert taunted.

Cheren immediately glared at him.

"You know what?" Jason asked himself, finally cooling down. "That girl; Bianca, is right…Hannah, I'm sorry for snapping.

"It's fine. I'm sorry for doing it for my own selfish reasons." She apologized.

"I love you." He said and hugged her.

"Aww, you know I love you too!" She exclaimed and hugged him back.

Sara face palmed. "In my opinion, love is messed up."

Brendon laughed. "Oh, Sara. Two people named Manami and Anne were looking for you-"

I interrupted him with a gasp. "Where are they? !"

"I told them to meet me here after they defeated the Gym-"

"And here we are!"

I turned around and saw my familiar childhood friends. Anne was moreover short than medium height and had neck length platinum blonde hair with jet black lace ribbons tied into it. Her azure blue eyes shined happily with excitement. Manami bore striking resemblance to me; we could be sisters, heck, we could be twins! The only difference was here height, she stood a little shorter than me, and her eyes were hazel, more of a brown-ish, if you will. She even wore her hair in a high ponytail like mine, and she had a huge, pure white Hawaiian flower barrette holding it.

"Manami! Anne!" I beamed and hugged them both. Anne happily hugged me back.

"Ugh! Hate-hugs-blargh!" Manami struggled to get out of it. Manami was on the tomboyish side, the only girly thing about her was her pure white Hawaiian flower barrette. She wore a black and white checkered T-shirt with a poke ball logo on it, with black fingerless gloves to match. She wore torn, tattered, ripped and dirty length jean shorts. They weren't Bermuda shorts, or short ones like mine; they were in between length. She wore two black knee pads on each knee, and dark navy blue lace up _vans_.

"Manami! You haven't seen Sara in a while! You should be happy!" Anne scolded. Anne was her polar opposite, her persona closely matching Bianca's, except not as flighty and she's _definitely not _an airhead. She wore a knee length pure white skirt with some tiny ribbons edging it. Her pink blouse matched her pink sparkly slip-ons. She wore fancy jewelry that wasn't too attention drawing. Overall, she was and always has been very moderate.

"It's fine." I smiled.

"Yeah, we came here because there were these creepy cosplay Teams lurking around Hoenn!" Anne exclaimed and fist pumped.

"…But then Brendon here told us all about these Plasma goons with the knights, sages, lords, ninjas, goddesses, and a King…"

"IT SOUNDS SO MUCH MORE FUN HERE!" They both beamed, their eyes _literally_ sparkling.

"Ahahaha…sure….that's what it is…" I sighed. If it was anything besides messed up, it was DRAMATIC!

"He-ehe…" Manami smiled mischievously. "Heh-heh…MYAHAHAHAHAH!" She laughed maniacally.

"Ummm…Manami? Did you eat that expired package of Teriyaki beef jerky again?"

"Even better!" She beamed.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"Ahem. I think I should express my feelings through song."

"…"

"SARA AND N SITTIN' IN A TREE- K-I-"

"GLAAAH~!"

She got interrupted by an electrical shock charring her. She immediately fell to the floor, her eyes being replaced by anime swirls.

"Thanks Emolga. How did you know about N anyways?" I asked my friends.

"Oh, Brendon told us about him when we interrogated him." Manami said casually.

"_WE? !" _Anne gaped_. "You _were the one who almost tied him up in a chair to ask him!

All of my friends were trying not to laugh.

"Hee-hee…" Anne giggled. "Sara, the guys always seemed to like you…"

I felt my face turn beet red. "Two things. One, N doesn't like me like that."

All of my friends; even the Brendon's ones that I just met, all gaped at me.

"Ok, I'm going to ignore that. And two…Anne, you have Eric. You should be happy."

"W-Well, yeah…" She stammered and then blushed.

"Hey, speaking of Eric, did he come with you?" I asked.

She shook her head sadly. "He wanted to try to stop the thieves back in Hoenn. It's understandable."

"Oh."

"Sara…what does N look like?" Manami taunted.

I felt my face turn red again. "Why do you care?"

"Heh-heh…just curious…" She smiled evilly.

"Sara, your friends are sooo cool~!" Bianca beamed.

"Yeah!" I beamed. "No matter how evil they may be…" I shot a sideways glare at Manami. "…They're awesome."

"Seriously, what does 'Lord N' look like?" Manami pressed.

"MANAMI!" We all yelled. "I'm pretty sure you'll see him very soon with all the stuff that's going on."

"Yeah, Brendon also gave us up to date information on what's going on with these medieval noobs. Kings, and sages and stuff…SO COOL!"

I face palmed. "It's NOT COOL! Well, kind of, but IT'S MESSED UP!"

"Manami!" Anne scolded. "Brendon only told you because you almost tied him up to a chair!"

Brendon sighed in relief. "Thank you for clearing that up again!"

"No problem. It's something you have to do often with her." Anne said.

"So Anne, do you still want to become a Pokémon researcher?"

She nodded. "It's so exciting! There's many new Pokémon here!" She beamed.

"What about you, Manami?" Hilbert asked.

"I…want to be…wait for it…A GYM LEADER!" She beamed.

"That's cool!" He said.

"So, when will we finally get involved in this Team Plasma stuff?" Manami asked curiously.

I face palmed, again. "I don't know! It could be soon, it could be a while."

"Why do they want to liberate Pokémon though?" Hannah asked.

"It's their King, N's, ideal." Cheren explained. "He thinks that the idea of the pokedex is sickening, and he also thinks it's sickening how we use them to battle to 'understand' each other. Basically, he thinks that some of us are abusing them."

"But, we're not!" Marie argued. "You guys aren't either! Brendon told me that you're all very nice to your Pokémon!"

Jason nodded in agreement.

"We are!" I said. "It's just that Team Plasma makes it sound bad to have Pokémon. Especially since they have their rallies…and Ghestis's speeches…they're weird…"

"Oh! Oh! Isn't Justice the sage that Brendon battled?" Manami asked.

I laughed out loud. "Hahaha! That's his new nickname! Since he keeps calling me Juliet-"

"What was his old nickname?"

"Hmm…I'm not sure…"

"Speaking of rallies…Look over there." Hilbert sighed. There was a huge crowd in the middle of the town.

"Shoot! It better not be them!" I said as we started to run over.

"Already? ! Sweet!" Manami beamed. "Finally, some action! Let's kick some medieval butt!"

We all sweat dropped. "Manami..." We went towards the back of the crowd.

He saw us and smirked at our group. "Good afternoon, Ladies, gentlemen…and…_others_."

I clenched my fists to keep from yelling and screaming at him.

"Today, I come to you to talk about Pokémon Liberation." He said in his conning voice.

There were bewildered murmurs from the crowd. Great.

Here we go again.

**Melody: Yeah, yeah I know, fail ending…I don't own Jason, Hannah, Marie, or Brendon; I _do _own Anne, Manami, and Eric. Clan's Warrior owns the other ones mentioned above. It's going to be harder to update because of school, but I'll try my best.**

**_Please review!_**

We all sweat dropped. "…Manami…"

We went towards the back of the crowd.


	19. The New Kids

**Melody: HELLO PEOPLE! I DON'T OWN POKEMON! AHAHAHAHA!**

**Sara: I think she's stressed out again…**

**Hilbert: Ya think? !**

**Unknown POV**

I walked up the flight steps to the Celestial Tower; I've always wanted to do this, but I've never had the chance to…

I finally got to the top of the tower. I breathed in the fresh air and sat down for a little while to arrange my thoughts.

"I guess I should do it now." I told myself. I stood up and walked over to the bell placed on the center of the roof. I pulled the rope, and listened to it ring…such a beautiful sound…

It reminded me of _her_. Maybe I should go look for her…

Yes, that's what I'll do.

I started to walk down the stairs, but then remembering the reason I came here, tossed a few words over my shoulder before leaving.

"My true friends…

Rest in Peace."

**Sara's POV**

I returned Emolga to its poke ball; even if it didn't like it too much.

"My name is Ghestis, and as some of you may know, I've come to talk about Pokémon Liberation."

There were many gasps and murmurs from the crowd. My friends and I watched the scene sadly.

"BOOOO!"

That is, everyone except for Manami. I immediately face palmed. Everyone turned around and looked at her. She was glaring coldly at Ghestis.

"Manami!" Anne hissed. "What _are_ you doing?"

"Resisting!" Manami replied casually. "It's one of the things that I'm best at!" She said, smiling proudly.

Hilbert sweat dropped. "Last time something like this happened, things didn't go so well…." He said, remembering Sara's confusion of Team Plasma being Shakespeare performers.

Somehow, Manami was standing up greatly to Ghestis's ice cold, unforgiving glare…but at the same time, she was trying not to laugh her head off at Ghestis.

"How can she do that? !" Brendon whispered to me.

I shrugged. "Her nature?"

"Anyways, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted…" Ghestis started, and then paused for a second.

"He said the same thing about Sara." Cheren sighed.

"I'm finally rubbing off on you." Manami said to Sara, smirking.

"Nooo! Sara, don't go to the dark side!" Anne wailed. We all looked at Ghestis again. He had been glaring at us, apparently waiting for us to stop, like a teacher would do to his students.

Ghestis sighed impatiently and continued. "I'm here to talk about Pokémon Liberation. You see, our King has a very strong beli-"

_CLICK!_

We all slowly, obviously agitated, turned around to look at Manami. She had her X-Transceiver in her hand; on the screen was a picture of Ghestis giving his speech with Team Plasma behind him.

"YES! A SOUVINEIR! AWESOME!" Manami beamed, looking at the picture.

"Manami, was it necessary to put your X-Transceiver volume to the loudest?" Anne asked rhetorically.

"Yes Anne, yes it was." Manami countered sassily.

"He's going to get pissed!" Jason hissed through his teeth. Hannah and Marie nodded in agreement.

"Manami…maybe that wasn't such a good idea…" Hilbert said.

"Oooh! Can I see the picture? !" Bianca beamed.

"Yeah hang on, let's see…album, today's pictures…AHA! HERE IT IS!" Manami beamed.

"Ooooh! That's _really _cool!" Bianca beamed.

"This…Is my new wallpaper." Manami said dramatically. "Let's see…options-"

"AHEM!"

We all turned around and saw Ghestis glaring at us. "What exactly are you doing? !"

Manami, somehow completely relaxed, held up her X-Transceiver in the air. "I'm sorry sir, I really am…"

"Oh _are _you? !" Ghestis scoffed.

She nodded innocently. "You see, I come from Hoenn….Not only me, my friends Sara and Anne too."

"Don't you _dare_ bring me into this!" Anne yelled. "Sara, don't you have anything to say?"

I shrugged. "I'm kind of used to this stuff now."

"You see, Sara moved here before Anne and I came. Anne and I just flew in last night. Back in Hoenn, there's some delinquents much like yourselves running around Hoenn."

"WHAT? !" Ghestis fumed.

Manami nodded. "Yes, they're running around Hoenn." Manami said, completely avoiding the fact that Ghestis was mad at her bashing Team Plasma. "So, we came over here, but sadly we heard that there was _another_ Team roaming around Unova. How disappointing."

My friends and Brendon's friends were all trying not to laugh.

"…So I wanted to get a picture of your stupid cosplay Team before I returned to Hoenn…ya know, for memories and stuff. The End." Manami explained.

"…Cosplay Team? !" Ghestis fumed. "HOW DARE YOU INSULT TEAM PLASMA!" Ghestis yelled.

"Mommy!" A little girl whined. "That one-eyed man's scaring me!" She whined.

"Hey, what's wrong with these people? Yelling at _obviously_ innocent children…how low can people go now-a-days?" A man from the crowd said.

Ghestis frantically looked around at the crowd, horror filling his eyes. Everyone was yelling or criticizing Team Plasma…

All thanks to Manami.

"Hmm…You're not as bad as I thought." Cheren said.

"I know my intentions." Manami said proudly.

Eventually everyone had left; sadly, we forgot to leave with them, Ghestis still being on his stage. We all stood there awkwardly, in our little friend circle.

"You kids…I've had enough of this nonsense!" he yelled.

"B-But you just met some of us!" Manami retorted in her most innocent voice, referring to our friends who had just flown in. "What did I, a lost and innocent fifteen year old, possibly do wrong?"

Ghestis scowled. "Chris, Lizzie, Derek, Susan. You know what to do."

They all nodded and ran towards us, with six other Plasma grunts trailing behind him. I saw Ghestis smirk, before he started to leave with the rest of his Plasma goons.

I avoided the Plasma goon and ran over to Ghestis.

"Ghestis!" I yelled. Ghestis stopped just for a second, but he didn't even look at me.

"Why are you doing this? Why do you want to separate people and Pokémon so badly? ! We're doing fine on our own!" I yelled. "We don't need your help or opinion! Just because it's possibly what _you _want doesn't mean that other people will agree! And- whoa!"

I felt myself being pulled upward by my necklace; I felt the yarn cutting into my skin. I had been pulled up like I had with N; except Ghestis obviously meant it as a threat.

"Silence!" He yelled. "Like I said before, I've had ENOUGH of you stupid kids! Especially you! I'm warning you; there's _no _way you're going to defeat my-I mean, Team Plasma's plans!"

_"He made that 'mistake' again…"_

The yarn from my necklace was cutting into my skin even more now.

"I _will_ beat Team Plasma!"

"…_What? !"_ He fumed.

"I _love_ my Pokémon! I'm not going to let some random people make me release them!" I yelled.

"Dammit, you stupid girl!" He yelled and then threw me down to the hard concrete.

Ghestis turned to leave soon after, the six Plasma goons following. Chris, Lizzie, Susan, and Derek stayed behind. I slowly got up, and walked over to my friends.

"Sara! Are you ok?" Hilbert asked.

"Don't worry; I'm fine." I said, slightly wincing.

"A-Are you sure?" He asked.

I nodded vigorously, but fakely.

"Don't worry; Anne and I will take care of these goons!" Manami beamed.

"So will we!" Hannah beamed, referring to herself, Jason, and Marie.

"Go, Salamence!" Manami commanded.

"Come on out, Altaria!" Anne beamed.

Salamance was a red, white and blue dragon, and Altaria was a bird that looked as if its body were covered in cotton balls.

"You guys finally got those two to evolve? !" I beamed.

"Heh, of course!" Manami said.

"Whoa…" Cheren stared at the foreign Pokémon in awe. "They're both rare Pokémon; even back in Hoenn…"

"Go, Leipard!" Lizzie and Chris commanded.

"Wait…Susan, is that you?" Jason asked, a shocked expression spreading across his face.

"Yeah, who knew I would see you again?" She asked rhetorically.

Jason did a double take to her tone of voice. "...What happened? Why are you part of Team Plasma?"

"Isn't it obvious? !" She was nearly yelling now. "I can _finally_ be victorious; our plan is pretty undefeatable! Lord N's very strong; it's pretty much impossible for any of you to defeat us."

"…But didn't you enjoy our journey together? When we could all just be ourselves and not worry about stuff like this? !" Hannah countered.

Susan paused for a second. "I was average; at best. I was _never_ the best battler, best coordinator, or anything! I can finally excel at something now!"

"…Susan, it doesn't matter if you're best at something." Brendon said. "You're Pokémon are there to support you, and-"

"SHUT UP!" She screamed. "Have you ever wondered how the Pokémon felt? ! Lord N has a pure heart and can understand them!"

"That depends on the trainer." I said. "It's like loving a person; if you're nice to them, they'll know that you care for them, and most likely appreciate that….but if you abuse them, they'll feel unwanted and worthless."

"Yeah, but what about-"

"Everyone has different thoughts and opinions; the world would be pretty boring if we all had the same opinions!" I said, knowing that she was going to bring up N. "Something heart breaking must've happened to him to spur him into pursuing his ideals; I could tell that his actions were innocent though."

"What about in Nimbasa City? !" She countered, smirking.

I sighed. "Well…It's pretty hard to believe that he couldn't have told me before, but I guess everyone makes mistakes. I would've never been friends with him if he did tell me when we first met…it's quite confusing actually."

She stayed silent…

"The way he is…how he reacts to certain things and people…I've never seen anything like it." I said, feeling my face turn slightly warm. "We have one thing in common though; we love Pokémon."

"Well, he's going to separate Pokémon to let them live to their full potential; no matter what you say!" Susan countered.

"I can't allow that now, can I?" I said.

"Wait…_what?"_

"If he does, I'm going to have to stop him. I have my opinion too."

More silence…

"Salamence, Hyper Beam!" Manami yelled.

"Altaria, Dragon Pulse!" Anne yelled.

Beams of light shot at Chris and Lizzie's Pokémon.

"Whoa, those are scarily strong moves!" Hilbert said. Once the dust from the explosion had disappeared, we saw that Manami and Anne had defeated Team Plasma.

"Yeah!" They both beamed and returned their Pokémon.

"We always loose against them…" Chris mumbled to himself gloomily

"Retreat!" Lizzie yelled in fear. They all nodded and started to run away.

"COWARDS! MEH!" Manami yelled and stuck her tongue out.

We all laughed after a brief second of silence.

"That was…kind of funny…" I said, giggling.

"Which one's that M-dude?" Anne asked.

"M? You mean N?" I asked.

"Yeah!"

"He wasn't with them this time." Brendon said.

"Hnnn…He's quite distant." Cheren said. "He never really talks to us; besides Sara. It seems like he's always talking or he's always with her."

Manami whipped her head to look at me. "Really? HAHAHAHAHA!"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, feeling heat travel to my cheeks.

"I'm going to challenge the Gym…" Cheren said, shaking his head, annoyed.

"Wait! Cheeeeren!" Bianca whined. "I want to meet Sara's friends…"

"You already did." He retorted sourly.

"-B-But I wanna do stuff with them!"

"You can go ahead."

"I want you to do it with us! It's more fun with you!"

_"_No it's not…" Hilbert, Brendon and I mumbled quietly so that he wouldn't hear.

"…" Cheren's face was slightly red.

"Pleeeease?" Bianca begged.

Cheren's face turned visibly redder. "F-Fine."

"YAY!" Bianca beamed.

"Sooo…what do we do now?" I asked.

"Actually, I think we should be leaving now. As sad as it is, my friends and I have already beaten the gym, and we want to move on." Brendon said.

"AWWW!" Bianca whined. "Well, at least I got Cheren to hang out with us."

"Ok, nice meeting you guys!" I said to Brendon's friends.

"You too!" Jason said before they started to walk away.

"See ya soon!" Marie beamed.

"Did you bring any other Pokémon from Hoenn?" Hilbert asked Manami.

Manami looked over at Hilbert. "Yeah; I brought four, just in case I wanted to trade one-"

"Trade? ! I'll trade you!" Cheren interrupted. "…Anything for that Salamence!"

"Salem?" She asked, using her Pokémon's nickname. "No way!"

"You still kept its nickname?" I asked.

"Of course! Salem was one of our favorite characters from Drawn to Life!"

"Yeah, he _was!"_ I said, remembering childhood memories of the video game we used to play together. "Oh well, his evil laugh is awesome."

"Yeah, Kristine went crazy over Salem since he was based off of the Phantom of the Opera!" Anne said.

"Yeah, she sung the Phantom of the Opera theme song EVERY DAY!" I added.

"Anyways…" Cheren interrupted. "Are there any other Pokémon that you're willing to trade?"

"Look, I'm not trading my well-trained, quite rare Pokémon to just anyone." Manami said bluntly.

Cheren sighed.

"What about me?" Hilbert asked.

Manami looked at Hilbert. 'Watcha got?"

"I'm not willing to trade my starter Pokémon, but I've got a few others." He said, pulling out some poke balls. He released a small fluffy bird, a Watchog, a Pansear, and…

"WHAT THE- AHHHHH!" I yelled and hid behind Anne.

"What, you don't think I'm afraid of giant electric spiders too? !" Anne yelled, trying not to scream.

"Awesome! Manami beamed.

My pokedex said that it was the evolution of Joltik; Galvuntula.

"Hate-spiders-eeek!" I stammered.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Manami smirk. "This could come in handy…well; the only one I'm willing to trade is my Mawile."

"Is it still nicknamed Mari? !" I asked.

"Shhhh! It's a secret! I only call it that sometimes…barely, though." She said.

"Come on out Mawile!" She said. Mawile was a khaki color, and it looked as if it had a ponytail where her teeth were placed.

"Hmm…my pokedex doesn't recognize it." Hilbert said.

"It's a steel type." Manami said.

"Oh, cool! That'll balance out my team, which is especially great for my job at the battle subway!" Hilbert beamed.

"Okay, I want your Galvuntula."

"Deal."

"Wait, can you at least look at my Pokemon? !" Cheren asked.

"No." Manami answered curtly.

"Why not?" I asked. "You said you wouldn't trade with just anyone, but you're trading a pretty rare Pokémon for a…_spider." _I shivered as the last word slipped out of my mouth.

Manami's face flushed pink. "W-Well, if I get a Galvuntula, I can use it to my advantage to find out about you and that N guy." Manami stammered.

"Are you sure that's a fair trade?" Bianca asked.

"Of course it is!" They both retorted, their faces slightly red.

"Ha, they're both so hasty!" I said.

"Per-fect cou-ple!" Bianca whispered.

"Hm…I never thought of that." I whispered back.

The next thing we noticed, we heard Hilbert yell. We turned around to see Manami's Mawile biting Hilbert's head.

"Oh…did I mention that she's slightly violent?" Manami asked, truly innocent.

"That would've been helpful!" Hilbert said.

For the next few minutes, Manami was desperately trying to pry her Mawile off of Hilbert's head. We watched in amusement.

"Oh! Hey, you over there!" We heard a voice call out. There was an older man who looked strangely familiar along with a cute girl about Cress or N's age; she wore a ton of blue! Everything she wore was blue; gloves, boots, you name it, even her eyes! The only thing that stood out from her blue outfit was her magenta toned hair styled into a side bun, supported by a blue, of course, head barrette.

"Ummm…yes?"

"Let me see your pokedex for a moment." He said.

"Ummm okay, but please be careful…" I said, reluctantly handing him my pokedex.

He took it and pressed a few buttons. "What have here? You've found quite a lot of Pokémon…" He said. "…And what's this? Fascinating! You've seen a Klink! You're quite the trainer."

"Thank you…and umm, one question. I don't mean to come off as rude, but WHO ARE YOU? !"

"Oh, pardon me! I seem to have gotten too excited and forgot my manners! My name is Juniper, and-"

"OMA! PROFESSOR JUNIPER, HOW DID YOU TURN INTO A BOY? !" Bianca exclaimed. We all sweat dropped.

"No no, I'm Cedric Juniper; the professor who you're talking about is my daughter!" He explained.

_"Oh, that's why he looked familiar."_

"She's told me a lot about you and your friends! It's an honor to meet you!" He said.

"An honor to meet us? !" Cheren gaped. "I believe it's an honor to meet you!"

Cedric laughed. "Now, she's also told me that there are two new trainers that have come here from a different region like me."

Manami was still trying to pry Mawile off of Hilbert's head, while Anne was scolding Manami on carelessness.

_"What a strange scene…"_ I thought to myself.

"My daughter told me to give two Unova pokdexes to these trainers." He said.

Manami finally got Mawile off of Hilbert's head. They both looked over at Cedric happily. "THANK YOU!" They thanked before taking their pokedexes.

"Professor, are these the trainers that you were telling me about?" The girl dressed in blue asked.

He nodded. "They're all on an adventure traveling around Unova to complete their pokedexes! Sara and everyone else, this is Skyla, this town's Gym leader! Oh my, I have to get going! See you, everyone!" He added hastily and just as hastily walked away.

Skyla sighed and muttered something along the lines "Happy-go-lucky."

"Oh, hi! I've heard of you from someone before…" I said, trying to remember.

"Yeah, that means that you'll be challenging the gym, right?" She asked.

Of course!" Cheren stated. "…But a certain person here would not let challenge the gym yet." Cheren added, giving Bianca a glance.

"Oh! Didn't the triplets mention her?" Bianca asked.

"You mean the Straiton Gym Leaders?" Cheren asked. "Well, know that I remember, wasn't it Cress that-"

Skyla interrupted with a gasp. "The…Straiton Triplets?"

"Yeah…." I said.

"OMA, THEY REALLY MENTIONE ME? !" She exclaimed.

"…Yeah…"

"They're so cool!" She beamed. "They're all, like, dressed as waiters and stuff! What did they say about me?" She asked.

"Uhhmmm…well…"

"Which one mentioned me?" she asked.

"It was either Cilan or Cress…." I said honestly.

"Was it good stuff they were talking about, or was it bad?" She pressed.

"It depends…hahahahahaha…"

Skyla covered her mouth. I'm sorry….I just-"

"Straiton Triplets? Who are they?" Manami asked.

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHO THEY ARE? !" Skyla exclaimed.

"Well, no because I-"

"They're waiters, and Gym leaders, and Triplets! Well, they're actually just brothers; Chili being the youngest, Cilan being in the middle, and Cress the oldest." Skyla explained.

"Sorry, I only know the Gym Leaders from Hoenn." Manami shrugged.

"Oh yeah, sorry. WHICH ONE'S YOUR FAVORITE? !" She asked me.

'"Umm…I don't really-"

"Cress!" She answered. "He's sooo hot! He has blue hair! It's my favorite color!"

"I can tell…." I said, looking at her clothes.

"Oh! Sara!" Bianca said. "Didn't Cress say that he liked Skyla?"

"BIANCA!" I yelled. "I don't think he wanted her to know that…" I was making motions to the frozen Skyla.

"A-Are you serious?" Skyla asked, her whole face turning red.

"Don't tell…I don't think he wanted even his brothers to know…"

"Well, that's like Cress, cool and silent!" Skyla beamed. "Lalalala, life is great!"

"You've got some…_interesting_ Gym Leaders." Anne whispered.

"Hey!" I said defensively. "They can't be any more interesting than your-" I paused, starting to remember the Gym Leaders from Hoenn. "Yeah, you're right."

"Anyways, can I battle you now?" Cheren asked Skyla, sighing.

"Oh, sorry…" Skyla apologized. "About that…there's something that I need to take care of first."

"Can't Cress wait?" Cheren rolled his eyes.

"Not that!" She said blushing. "When I was flying my cargo plane-"

"You're a pilot?" Hilbert asked.

"Yep! I own that whole airport!" She beamed. "Anyways, I saw something on the top of Celestial Tower. It looked like a sick Pokémon, even if it's not, I can't just leave it there! I'm going to check it out; you can come along if you like." She said.

"You'll be done quicker that way, correct?" Cheren asked.

Skyla nodded. "Coming?"

"Of course!" we all beamed.

Route 7 had tall grasses spread out all over the field; you could either trudge through there or and thin wooden balance beams. We were walking on the beams when-

"Sara! I just realized that you were in that magazine with that green haired guy about my age!" Skyla answered.

I almost fell off of the beam. "I know, it's just the sleazy paparazzi wanting a juicy story." I told her, knowing how to deal with it.

"B-But there's evidence! Evidence I tell you, photographic evidence!" Skyla argued.

"CGI." Cheren lied.

"Really?"

"It was worth a try." Cheren said defensively as we walked in the tower.

"Hmm…I honestly don't know what's going on between us." I sighed.

Skyla smiled happily.

"N-Not like that!" I stammered. "Ugh! Why is this so confusing?"

"I understand. I'll meet you up there, that Pokémon might not have any more time!" Skyla said, and then ran up a long flight of stairs.

"Celestial tower is a place where Pokémon are laid to rest." Cheren said.

"This place is creepy…" Bianca said. "Cheren…"

"Yeah Bianca?"

"C-Can I…" Bianca was blushing. "H-Hold your hand?"

Cheren started to turn red. "Wha-"

Hilbert stifled a laugh.

"I'm just scared…" She wailed.

"Ha, this is like watching a romance shoujo anime!" Manami whispered.

"Is there really this much romance on your journey?" Anne whispered.

I nodded.

"Dang, I should've somehow forced Eric to come." Anne pouted.

"It's also very dramatic…" I said. "…Especially with Team Plasma."

"…Ah, yes, and your encounters with Lord N." Manami said in a fake English accent.

"Shut it."

"I already know what happened; I just want to know how you feel about it and how he feels." Manami smirked.

"Good luck with that." I said. "Even if you use your Galvuntula, I don't know how I feel."

"Oh, I see it's your density." Anne said, joining in.

"Anne! Since when did you become like this? !"

"Manami might've given me a few lessons on how to be evil; I only use it on special occasions though." Anne said.

"…This is a 'special occasion'?" I asked rhetorically, putting air quotes around 'special occasion'.

"OMA, THAT'S SOOO CUTE!~" Bianca beamed. We saw her admiring a Pokémon that looked like a candle. "I wanna catch it!"

"Bianca, focus, we're on the second floor, and there's only about two more before we get to the top." Cheren ordered.

"Cheren, you can stay here with Bianca. We'll move on." I told him as we walked away.

We walked up a couple of floors and soon saw some people looking at Pokémon graves.

Apparently, they wanted to battle us.

Great.

"STOP CONFUSING ME WITH YOUR ANALOGIES!" Manami yelled at the physic type Pokémon trainers.

"Sara, we'll battle them. Go see Skyla." Hilbert told me.

I ran up the last flight of stairs. I saw Skyla looking out to the Unova region, and an ancient looking bell standing eerily on the center of the roof.

"Thanks for coming! I was right; it was a hurt Pokémon, but not to worry! I gave it a Max Revive, so it should be okay!"

"Wow, you have great eyesight!" I complimented.

"Well, no matter how far away things are, a Pilot's eye can always see them!" She beamed. "Oh, I like your necklace."

"Really? Thanks!" I beamed.

"…But what happened to your neck?" She asked, looking at the left side and back of my neck.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"There's this half circle going around, almost like it cut off your circulation." She said.

I put my finger up to the side of my neck. I did feel and indent…

Ghestis!

"I don't know…" I lied hastily.

"Anyways…since you've come this far, you might as well ring this bell." She said. "It soothes the spirits of the Pokémon; it also reflects the person's spirit in its sound."

"That's kind of creepy." I said, but walked forward anyways. When I touched the bell, I had another vision.

The background was set in a forest. I saw three Pokémon; abused and bleeding. Then I saw people….

N.

Except, he was younger. He was sobbing over the Pokémon; I couldn't quite hear him, and I don't believe I wanted to…

"Go ahead, don't be shy!"

I turned around and saw Skyla, smiling her bright smile.

"R-Right! Sorry." I pulled the rope and the bell and heard it ring…it sounded nice and nostalgic….it echoed for a few seconds until ceasing in sound.

"What a pretty sound…" Skyla said. "Sara, you must be a kind and strong person. Someone can always trust you and look up to you. You're also very sensitive and love your friends along with your Pokémon."

Emolga popped out of its poke ball and made a pouting face at me. "_Gah!" _It said.

"Ooops, sorry." I apologized. "I forgot to take you out!"

"I'd like to introduce myself again. I'm Skyla, Mistraltion's Gym Leader! You and your friends can come down and challenge me whenever you're ready! I'll give you all a big welcome!" She confirmed, and the walked down the stairs.

I sat down on the roof to clear out my thoughts. _"What a strange vision…what did that have to do with anything? Ah well~ The weather's really nice, and-_

"HOW DARE YOU!"

I looked up and saw Manami frowning.

"What?" I asked while standing up.

"You didn't tell me anything about these visions that you have!" She yelled.

"It slipped out of Bianca." Hilbert explained.

"Oh, I'll tell you about it when we walk back to town." I said and started to tell them of all the visions I had.

"Have you ever noticed that most of them have something to do with that M-guy?"

"It's N; and not all of them have to do with him!"

We were in a little café, getting dinner.

"Ah, you seem to care a lot when someone gets the facts wrong." Manami countered.

"Shut up!"

"But it's funny!" Anne agreed.

I munched on my food angrily. "Fine then! Go ahead and make fun of me! But what comes around goes around ten times fold!"

"….It's worth it." Manami laughed.

This is going to be interesting.

_A few days later…_

I was still dawdling around Mistraltion City, eating ice cream, playing with my Pokémon and friends, and having fun.

"So…basically, since you earned the first 5 badges in Hoenn, you can continue, for example, you got your sixth badge from Skyla, so you don't have to go all the way back to Straiton City to get the first badge."

"Right." Manami and Anne both replied. "The Elite Four and Champion are still thinking about it, so they'll contact us soon via PC."

"Elite Four? Champion?" Cheren asked, popping out of nowhere.

"They're not here; they're just confirming some rules for Manami and Anne sometime via PC." I told Cheren.

"C-Can I possibly see them too?" Cheren asked.

"Sure whatever." Manami said.

Cheren smiled happily, which made Bianca smile happily as well.

"So…can we travel with you and your friends from Unova?" Manami asked.

"Of course!" I beamed. "The more the merrier~!"

"Sara, you need to be tougher; especially what happened with Ghestis; next time, very maturely, SOCK HIM IN THE FACE!"

We all laughed. "What if he comes up from behind her?" Bianca asked.

"If he grabs her shoulder, all she has to do is dip her shoulder, turn around and punch him in the side. If he tries to choke her, since she never took martial arts she can't throw him, but she can step on his foot really hard or kick him…you know…where it hurts."

We all stared at her wide-eyed.

"Anyways….let's talk about something else!" I exclaimed.

"Sara, have you beaten the Gym yet?" Hilbert asked.

"Shoot! I haven't, see ya guys!" I said, running off.

_"Bianca told me that Skyla's a flying type trainer; I think Emolga will do well against her!"_

I walked into the gym; it was full of cannon's! How cool! The Gym directory dude told me how to get in and how to proceed. Here we go!

**I'm going to have a short chapter next to balance it out; just a heads up.**

**_Please review!_**


	20. Reveal Yourself

**Melody: Oh there was a question about Hilda's name I gave her, I responded to you guys in review form, but just in case you didn't see, the name Sara means Princess. Tee hee…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon!**

**Hilbert's POV**

_Meanwhile…_

It's weird, everything that's happening lately. Well, we've got two new people to help us out, that's always good. Anne was the usually well-mannered and nice one while Manami was just awesome. She looked exactly like Sara, but she was so different.

"Hilbert, what's your dream?" Manami asked me when everyone had left after an awkward moment of silence.

We were sitting on a bench in front of the ice cream parlor.

"I would like to get all of the Gym badges and challenge the Pokémon League, but working at the battle subway would be fun too." I replied. "What about you?"

"Hmmm….Either a Gym Leader, or an Elite Four member. I love expressing my feelings of my Pokémon through battle." She said.

"Oh-ho, N wouldn't like to hear that."

"Why not? !"

"He's against keeping Pokémon in poke balls and battling, yet he does it himself. It's weird, and he has this whole Team to help him with his ideal of keeping Pokémon and people separated." I replied.

"But, if he's against it, why does he use poke balls and battle people himself?" She asked.

"You're asking the wrong person…" I sighed.

"Hmm…would Sara know?" Manami asked.

"Possibly; N's quite distant, even with her."

"Oh, okay." She said. "What's up with Cheren and Bianca?"

I laughed to myself. "I swear Cheren's just a scardey-Purrlion; he doesn't want Bianca to reject him. Bianca likes him too, but it's quite hard to see because of her child-like personality."

"Oh…what about you?" She asked, almost whispering. I hadn't heard her so quiet….her face was flushing pink; she didn't even look as if she was the same person I had met a few days ago.

"Hmm…it's quite confusing. You know that Plasma goon, Susan?"

"The one that was arguing with Sara? Yeah, sadly, I know her." She said.

I chuckled to myself. "I usually don't tell many people this, but we used to be a couple back in Kanto. She then dumped me for the Derek guy, the other Plasma goon."

"The emo one?"

I nodded, slightly smiling.

"Oh…." She said with sympathy in her voice.

"Don't tell anyone, but then I started to like Sara; Cheren and Bianca always tease me about it, but Sara doesn't seem to notice. Then N came in, and I don't know my feelings for her anymore." I said. "I care for her more than a friend, but I don't know if I like her like N does."

"N likes her? !" Manami asked shocked.

"He never said, but actions really do speak louder than words. Even if I do fight for her, I'm still confused about my feelings for her." I said.

"Don't worry, if you keep hope in your life, you'll find your way!" She said and put her hand on my shoulder.

I looked into her brown eyes for a while. "_They're really pretty…I've never seen anything else like them before…"_

I quickly shook off that though. "_It can't be… you like her?"_ I asked myself.

She quickly broke eye contact with me, her face slightly flushing red. "_Well, it was kind of warm today, even if it's near evening."_ I thought to myself.

"I-I'm going to ask Sara some questions about that letter guy." Manami stammered.

"N?"

"Whatever!" She said, and then walked away.

"This is messed up. What's wrong with me?" I asked myself aloud.

"Nothing!"

"Bianca!" I yelled.

"Hmm….That was interesting." Cheren sneered.

"…You saw that?"

"Yep!" Bianca beamed. "Romance is the bestest thing ever! Right, Cheren?"

"…Sure Bianca…" He said.

"I'm saying this once again,

This is messed up."

**Manami's POV**

Ugh, I'm so stupid! How embarrassing! I have no idea where Anne is, probably at the move tutor's house learning about Pokémon moves, but I didn't care about that right now.

How can I be so stupid?

I stormed off to the Pokémon Gym, so focused on asking Sara about this letter-king person…it was actually just an excuse, just to get away from Hilbert…

I actually felt something…_embarrassed. _I never reveal my true self around someone like I did with him, and I never should have!

Oh well, asking Sara about this guy they keep talking about will get my mind off of it.

I had been too busy insulting myself that I had ran into this tall guy.

"Hey, watch it!" I said in my false outer character.

"Oh, I'm sorry; I was just trying to look for someone." He apologized. He was actually quite handsome; he had long tea green hair tied into a ponytail with a cool black and white hat on top that matched many accents of his clothing; he also wore strange jewelry which included a strange cube on his belt loop.

"Well, so am I; and stop talking so fast." I said.

"People keep saying that I talk fast, but it's only because it's how the Pokémon talk." He said slower this time, not making eye contact; or even looking at me.

"…Excuse me?"

"Oh….am I the only one who can hear them talk?" He asked himself casually.

_"This guy must be nuts or something…"_ I thought to myself, being very suspicious of him. "Do you need help finding anything?" I asked. He finally looked over at me.

"Wait…no, you're not her; you look a lot like her though." He said, slightly smiling a crooked smile.

"Hmmm? The only person I've been told I look like is Sara…" I mumbled quietly to myself.

"You know her? ! Do you know where she is?" He asked eagerly.

"_You _know her? !" I repeated back. "Well, I'm looking for her too; she went to challenge the Gym, but who-"

"Thank you very much!" He thanked me with a bright smile, and then ran towards the Gym.

"Cute, but strange."

"ANNE! DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!" I yelled, completely forgetting about her comment on the crazy guy.

"Yeah, I'm sticking to Eric." She said to herself. "By the way, ummm WHO WAS HE? !"

"He didn't tell me; he talked about talking to Pokémon or something strange like that."

"I heard that! But why was he looking for Sara?" She asked.

"Anne, I know as much as you do." I told her honestly.

We started to walk towards the Gym.

"Really Anne? Cute was the first thing you thought of him?"

"But he was!" She protested defensively.

"Dude, he's like, nineteen! That's like…four years older than you!"

"I didn't say that I wanted to marry him!" She argued back.

"Yeah, but I bet you that you were thinking it." I teased, smirking.

"MANAMI!"

"Haha, I'm kidding!"

"I swear…" She fumed to herself.

"Hey, speaking of your future husband…"

"SHUT UP!"

"Whoa…I've never heard you use that phrase before…" I said honestly.

"I have my moments…" She said, blushing from embarrassment.

"….Anyways, he's outside of the Gym just standing there." I said observantly.

She looked over there. "…Should we? I'm so tempted to-"

"Yes Anne, we're going to spy on them." I told her and dragged her to a nearby bush.

"O-Okay."

Sara came happily out of the Gym. She was about to walk in our direction when that strange guy grabbed her shoulder. He turned around and hit him in the side like I had directed her.

"Yes! She's being tough! Wait, why is she apologizing to him?" I whispered loudly.

"Maybe tough isn't in her personality." Anne said.

"Wait! Shhh! Listen!"

"Oh my Arcues, N, I'm so sorry!" I heard Sara say.

Anne and I did a double-take. "That's N? !"

**Sara's POV**

"You're an amazing Pokémon trainer!" Skyla said. "You definitely deserve this badge!"

"Thank you Skyla!"

"The next Gym is in Iccirrus City; the Gym Leader there is quite difficult; just a heads up. You'll need to get there through Route 7's Twist Mountain. Good Luck!"

"Okay!" I said as I climbed in the cannon. I found myself blasting over the entire Gym in no time. I fell on the floor, unable to keep my balance. My legs were so tired from having to land on the floor after being shot out from cannons. It was also very annoying because my dangly earrings would move around a lot.

I soon blushed. "_I'm only wearing the earrings that N gave me because Bianca forced me to! Think about something else!" _I put my necklace inside my black undershirt to prevent anymore incidents.

"Ha, I can finally move on now! Now more dawdling! Or at least I'll try not too!" I promised myself. I felt Emolga's poke ball wiggle, but it was probably just from being inside a poke ball. I was about to walk about the gym when I felt a firm grip on my shoulder.

_"Just do what Manami told you to do!" _I thought to myself, and in panic, did exactly that.

"OW!"

"_Shoot! That voice!"_ I turned around and…yep.

It was N.

_"How embarrassing!" _"Oh my Arcues, N I'm so sorry! It's just that I was told that I should be more careful and-"

'It's fine Sara." He said and smiled.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I just wanted to see you…"

I felt myself blush. "Oh…okay…"

Silence…

"I beat the Mistraltion Gym!" I said, trying to start a conversation.

"Don't you find it terribly painful Pokémon in battle? Some say it's for understanding each other, but they're really using them to compete!" He yelled.

Apparently not the right conversation…

"That may be true, but that's what _they _think. I think that if we battle, then we can understand each other better!"

"Oh…that's right; you think that way…whatever, I'm going to talk to your Pokémon." He said casually. Emolga popped out of its poke ball, happy to be free.

_"It's a strange feeling whenever I'm around him…happiness, yet sympathy, and that vision added even more mystery."_

I was lost in thought and hadn't realized that he had been talking to Emolga.

"Hmmm…I basically knew all of that anyways; at least I know that it's true since Pokémon never tell lies."

"Oh, that's good to know." I said honestly.

"Yes…even if you use a pokedex and poke balls, and still, for some reason, it trusts you. That's great Sara!" He beamed. "If everyone could care about one another like you two do, I wouldn't have to liberate them from horrible people."

"Thank you! Umm…just curious, but if your against poke balls, why do you use them yourself?" I asked.

"Ghestis told me that I must understand how the Pokémon feel by being trapped inside those things…but it was also out of my curiosity, too see what it's like." He said. "Maybe the legendary Pokémon can still recognize me as a hero though."

"You've been mentioning a legendary Pokémon, but what exactly does it have to do with everything?" I asked.

"You see, Team Plasma's searching for two stones; the Light stone and the Dark stone. The only problem is that we have no idea what they look like, or where they are." He said. "You see, these stones hold the essence of two legendary Pokémon. It's said that when they lost their physical form, they fell into a slumber and transformed into stones of some sort. Now a hero awaits them…I'll befriend them and become a hero myself!"

"Wow…you're ideals are strong..." I said. He looked down at me when I said this.

"Like I said before, you're special Sara. Even if you don't know you're ideals, I know that you'll find your way one day." N told me.

"How are your ideals so strong though?" I asked.

He looked away for a second. "I don't like to think about it, and I don't really like to tell anyone."

"Please? You can trust me, reveal yourself to me. I want to know the truth even if it hurts you. It feels better when you let someone know." I grabbed his hands when I said this. Not realizing that I had done this, my face went red.

"I'm sorry; I should've told you, you're my only human friend, and I keep pushing things away from you." He said.

_"Friend..."_ This word alone brought a magical feeling of excitement over me.

"It was fourteen years ago, I was in the forest out to meet my friends, my Pokémon, in the forest. I found them bleeding. Ghestis told me that this is what cruel people did to Pokémon. They were my only friends-that was when I learned to understand Pokémon."

_"The story was so short…yet, it makes me feel like I'm going to cry. He had an exposed, shattered childhood."_

N saw a tear slide down my cheek.

"Sara, why are you crying?" He asked. "Nothing happened to you."

"I-I'm sorry; I don't know what came over me, I just-"

I felt arms embrace around me. "Don't cry because of me." He whispered in my ear. His voice was so gentle and reassuring.

I've never heard anything like it.

I started crying even harder, but they were muffled into his chest. I clenched onto his white jacket as my shoulders racked violently up and down from my sobs. He stroked my hair reassuringly.

"Why do you care about me so much?" He asked.

_"It can't be…do I love him?"_

"Because you're my friend." I said, not sure of what else to say. I looked up at him, my face was probably beet red because of the moment that we just had.

"Sara, will you forgive me?" he asked, looking into my eyes. He was still holding onto me.

_"It's as if he's looking me in the eyes to tell me what to say."_

"For what?"

"In Nimbasa City, I didn't mean to hurt you that badly." He said.

"...I forgive you." I said, and smiled.

He looked at me shocked. "You…forgived me…I'm so surprised, and happy."

"Of course, I like being friends with you!" I said.

"About the Ferris wheel," N said, finally letting go of me. "I didn't get any of your other friends alone to tell them. Just you; I just thought that you should know that."

"Oh, okay." I said quietly, still blushing red. "So, you want to become a 'hero' and separate people and Pokémon?"

"I want to change the world without using force. If I use force, others will resist. If others resist, the ones who will be hurt are the innocent Pokémon; I can't allow that to happen again." He explained.

I stayed silent, letting him explain himself.

"I know that you understand, and I respect you for that. You're other friends didn't seem to question the relationship between people and Pokémon. When we first met, it was only you. You care for them." He said. "I can have someone to talk to without them criticizing me, you'll question me, but you don't mean to hurt or insult me like some people do. Pokémon _aren't_ tools for people to use as tools!" N nearly yelled at the end.

"I agree; they aren't just tools, but some of us just love being friends with them." I said. "I love my Pokémon just as much as you do."

"I know; but if I want to become a hero, I'm going to have to separate all Pokémon and people to make Pokémon perfect. It might just be better for all of us." He said. "…But you and your Pokémon _do_ love each other, and if I separate you and your Pokémon, my heart will be broken."

He started to walk away. He gave me another glance and smiled at me. "I hope we'll see each other again soon."

_"This feeling that I feel…is it love? Is this what it feels like?" _I thought while I watched him walk away.

I suddenly heard laughing somewhere.

"…MANAMI!" I yelled, recognizing her voice.

"_That _was N?" She asked, coming out from behind a tree along with Anne holding onto my Emolga. "I bumped into that dude earlier!"

"Yeah, that's N."

"I thought that he was actually our age!" Anne exclaimed. "Man, a lot of guys back in Hoenn liked you, quite a few here like you, and HOW DID YOU GET AN ADULT GUY TO LIKE YOU?"

"He doesn't like me like that!" I yelled.

"Look," Manami said. "Even Anne recognizes it."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? !" Anne retorted defensively.

"Whatever. But what about you? You must like him more than a friend." Manami said. "It's quite obvious."

I blushed a lot. "P-Probably. I've never really felt this feeling."

"WHY DON'T YOU TELL HIM? !" Anne exclaimed.

"I'll sound stupid." I moaned.

"No you won't!"

"Stop it."

"Heya Sara!" Bianca called out, with Cheren and Hilbert following behind.

"Sara, we both have a Jet badge." Cheren said. "And-"

"No Cheren, I'm not going to battle you now. I'm going to Iccirus City; I want to get all of the badges and challenge the Pokémon League, and soon." I said.

"Well, you're not getting there before I am." He challenged.

"Oh-ho, really? Well, I'm leaving soon! I don't know how soon, but soon!" I retorted.

"B-But Sara! It suddenly got really cloudy, and it's nighttime!" Bianca warned.

I looked up at the sky after Bianca's remark, and it was really cloudy! It looks as if it were going to rain.

"Well, I have my sleeping bag, so if I can get inside Twist Mountain, I can set it up! HA, I'M GOING TO WIN CHE-REN!" I taunted.

"Do it your way; we'll see who'll be the victor in the end." He said.

I went to the Pokémon Center to get ready and heal my Pokémon.

"Sara, we're going to stay here for the night. Even Manami agrees, and she's totally hasty." Anne said.

"Awww…" I moaned. "Oh well, I'll have my Pokémon with me!" I exclaimed. "See ya guys!"

I walked on the beams on the Route. Celestial tower looked extra eerie because of the weather.

"That's weird…It was quite warm today." I remarked to Emolga.

Then, things started getting creepy.

Wind, rain and thunder started to hit the route.

"Whoa!" I yelled. I quickly ran towards the direction of Twist Mountain, but started getting lost because of the cold rain lashing at my face. I think that I was going in the direction, when I an elderly lady come out of a nearby house.

"Oh my, those Pokémon must be here again." I heard her mutter. I looked in her direction.

"Pokémon?" I murmured to myself.

She must've heard me because she looked over in my direction. "You poor thing! You must be freezing!"

"Um, no I'm fi-"

"Here, come inside deary."

I pouted to myself. "_Well, at least Cheren wasn't going to try to beat me until tomorrow."_

Her house was very warm and cozy, well, at least to me since it was raining and windy outside. There was a family of three, a mom, boy and girl.

"Why don't you have a nice warm bowl of vegetable stew?" She offered.

"Oh no, I'm fine-"

"Come now, don't be shy! Here you are deary." She handed me a small bowl along with a spoon and napkin. I ate it happily, warmth filling my body. I fed my Pokémon some poke food which made them happy.

I introduced myself and told them that I was a Pokémon trainer.

The elderly woman smiled at me. "Oh my, those Pokémon around these parts are such a nuisance. I can't even go grocery shopping because of them!"

"Hmm? Maybe I could help you with them." I offered. "It's the least I could do."

"No no, those Pokémon might be too much for you. You see, they're always coming around here; causing a ruckus-"

"The Kami Trio?" The girl asked.

"Yes." The woman replied.

"I could go grocery shopping for you if you like." The boy said.

"Oh no! Not in this weather!"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." He said and pulled out a poke ball.

She sighed. "If you insist."

"Yes!" He exclaimed and ran out of the house.

"I'll go with him." The girl said, sighing.

"Well, I guess it's never too early to start practicing to become a trainer." The mom muttered.

"Well, it's quite late; I'll be going to bed now." The elderly lady said and walked away.

"I couldn't thank you enough." I told the mom since the woman had left. "I should get going-"

"Not with the Pokémon running around! Why don't you stay the night here? We have an extra queen sized bed in our one guest bedroom. It's quite big, but it's better than nothing." She said.

"Thank you so much for your kindness." I said maturely. She led me over the room towards the end of the hallway.

I got into my pajamas and got ready to go to bed, but something didn't sit with me. They're so nice to me, complete strangers…

It reminded me of when I first met N.

He was a complete stranger when I first met him, yet he was rather kind. I think my feelings have changed majorly for him, I just couldn't tell how.

I shook that thought off. "I'll just go help them." I said to my Pokémon, wanting some company. None of them responded, not even with some kind of sound. They all had been sleeping.

_"Dewott…my first starter Pokémon. We've done so much together._

_Larvesta- the one I saved from the fire, separated from its family, but he's got a new one now._

_Audino; cute as it is powerful. I captured it because of its cuteness, but it has great potential also._

_Emolga, the one with many personalities. Mischevous, caring, and slightly spoiled._

_And there are more to come."_

"I wish I could talk to you guys like N can." I said softly to myself.

_"N…"_

I felt myself blush again. Why is he coming up in almost every situation now?

I walked out of the room. "Yeah, I should help them since they let me stay the night."

"Can I help you with something?" I asked.

She was washing the dishes. "Oh no, I'm fine."

"Here, let me help you." I insisted and started to help wash the dishes.

"Do you like being a Pokémon trainer?" She asked me.

"Totally!" I replied. "It tests who you are and to make the right decisions."

"Oh, but what about those people running around-Team Plasma, I believe?" She asked.

"Oh, them." I said, trying not to start ranting on and on about my encounters with them. "Yes, their motives are interesting, but I guess I can understand that some people do mistreat their Pokémon. They're just taking it way too far, their even searching for a legendary dragon!"

"Really?" She said. "Do you agree with them?"

"I don't know." I said. "I never thought about this until I started my journey, but I started to wonder how the Pokémon felt. Now that I think about it, I want to find out the truth behind Pokémon battling and training; Team Plasma's motives led me to rethinking on becoming a trainer."

"Oh, I see. I just wanted to see if it would be safe enough for my son and daughter to start their Pokémon journey." She explained. "I'm just wondering if it's too dangerous."

"My friend's dad felt the same way." I said. "He didn't want her to leave home, but everyone has to go on a journey at some point in life-its part of growing up."

"Yes, I suppose your right." She said. "I've just seen one of Team Plasma's rallies in Acuumula Town-I don't really know if they have any other members or anything else."

"They have a lot more members." I said. "Many of them being hypocrites, but I know one of them that has a pure heart and is doing all of this because of a life changing experience." I felt myself blush towards the end; I perfectly knew that it was the very King himself, but she obviously wouldn't know that.

"Well, it's still all very suspicious." She confirmed.

We heard the door knock.

"Oh, I'll go get that." She told me and walked over to the door.

_"Maybe her kids could join us on our journey; I know we have a lot of people, but she's done so much for me-letting me stay here and all." _I thought to myself as I washed the dishes.

"Hi mom! We found a person wandering around!" I heard the girl exclaim.

"_Ugh, it better not be Cheren."_ I thought to myself. "_No no no! I have to win!"_

"Oh my, so many people wandering around! Why don't you come inside for a little while? Sara dear, could you get this young man a bowl a vegetable stew?"

"Oh, of course!" I happily poured the warm leftovers into a bowl. I turned around to give it the the young man-No way!

"Oh, hey Sara. Ha, long time no see." He greeted jokingly. "Wow, I never thought I would see you again this soon."

I almost dropped the bowl of vegetable stew.

"N? !"

_To be continued…_

**Melody: Just when you thought it wouldn't get any more fluffy, it did. xD**

**Sara: O/O**

**Manami: Haha, you're blushing-**

**Sara: SHUT IT!**

**Melody: Tee hee, I got a lot of the romantic phrases from a song. Can _you _guess who sung it and what song it is? Shout out to whoever can; because the singer/song isn't very popular so I will be AMAZED if you can find it out.**

**_Please Review!_**


	21. Who are the Heroes?

**Melody: Sorry guyz! It's just so busy with school and sports. So I'm sorry if the chapters are shorter, but I'm trying really hard here. I was also in a funk, but after I saw this one youtube animation, I got inspired!**

**By the way, no one guessed the song I was listening to…I'll let you look at my profile to find the band/singer! (Hint: The person sings alone, band, and with a group! And the person was on TV! Keyword: _was_ on TV)**

**Anyways…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon! This is probably how it would go if I did~!**

Bianca's POV

"Cheren!"

He kept staring at the wall.

"CHEREEEN!"

"What, Bianca? ! _What? !"_ He slowly turned around to look at me, his eye twitching in annoyance.

I bit my lip nervously. "Uhm, do you think Sara's okay?"

Cheren sighed. "I think she'll be fine. If I remember correctly, Sara has an amazingly high stamina and incredible athletic ability."

"Yeah, back in training school, she was the star athlete!" Hilbert added.

"Yeah, Sara always was athletic." Manami agreed. "I also got her into video games and battling, while Anne here got her into reading and such, making Sara now very well-rounded in ability."

"B-But it's raining!" I protested. "A-And, it was warmer today! Such strange weather lately."

"Shh!" Manami hissed. "You're going to wake Anne up; she always goes to sleep early."

We all nodded.

"Hey Cheren, can you remind me what happened in that book about the Kami trio?" I asked, and sat next to him on his cot.

He looked up at me from his book and notes. "No, I'm reading my book and doing research."

"On _what?"_

"Team Plasma, and when they mentioned the story about the legendary dragons back in Castelia City." He stated.

"Hmm…We've changed a lot since then…even you." I said, and played nervously with my fingers.

He looked over at me, his beautiful dark cobalt eyes looking into mine. "How so?"

I put my finger on my chin, seeming to go through my thoughts. "I guess you've become more distant, and more into what Team Plasma's up to and battling people than being with us; your friends. It's not wrong, it's just that…it's seems as if you've forgot about us, or that Team Plasma's more important; besides, if anyone should be worrying about them, it's Sara."

A sad expression spread across his face. "Bianca…"

I stared at him a little longer, somehow able to stare back into his eyes without looking down at my feet and blushing.

"This is really awkward," Manami whispered to Hilbert loudly. "How do you deal with this all the time?"

"Well, I'll talk to Sara, but she seems stressed out over Team Plasma too; I mean, she's more involved than any of us, and it all happened so quickly." He said. "So, sometimes I need to leave her alone to think about it, also giving me time to re-think my feelings for her.

"Now, I can always talk to you." He finished, and smiled at Manami.

Manami's face turned a slight pink.

"O-Or Anne!" Hilbert hastily added, blushing a darker shade than Manami.

"Y-Yeah!" She agreed, and looked down at her feet.

"Hey, Cheren…please tell me the Kami trio story…" Bianca begged.

"Not right now, I'm reading my book." He replied curtly.

"B-But pleeease! It'll be so nice to hear it again-we would hear it every night when we were little before Hilbert and Sara came!" I begged.

He looked over at me and sighed.

"Cheren…" I started to poke his shoulder.

He kept reading…

"Cheren…" I kept poking his shoulder, slightly more often.

Still, he kept reading.

"Cheren, Cheren, Cheren, Cheren Che-"

"ALRIGHT!" He yelled, completely snapping.

"What's all this noise? It's like Jumanji in here…" Anne moaned, rubbing her eye.

"Oh, Bianca was begging Cheren to tell us about some Pokémon story," Manami said.

"The Kami trio." Hilbert said.

"Really?" Anne beamed. "Back in Hoenn, when Eric and I would be learning about Pokémon and science rather than battling or catching them, Professor Birch would tell us stories of legendary Pokémon not only from Hoenn, but from other regions too!

"From Unova, it was the legendary dragons-"

"Which I was trying to research on before Bianca interrupted me." Cheren said.

"…The Musketeer Trio, and also, the Kami Trio! There were many others, but those were the ones I remember." She said, putting on her glasses.

"Correct." Cheren said. "I'm researching them now because Ghestis mentioned that he would 'bring back the hero and the black dragon Pokémon to Unova once again'."

"Yeah, so?" Anne asked.

"Well, remember in the story? Two prince twins always agreed with each other, until the younger one chose to follow his ideals. They both shared a gray dragon type Pokémon, but once the princes were separated, the dragons separated into two." He said.

"Yeah, but then they eventually got along, but then their kids fought!" I said.

"Then, the Pokémon took a physical from that no one knows of, and are said to be waiting to this day for two other heroes to reawaken them. One must seek the truth, and the other must follow his ideals." Anne added.

"That's it!" Cheren said. "Think about it; one hero searching for the truth, and the other searching for ideals."

We all listened carefully to Cheren.

"Well? Doesn't at least _that_ sound familiar to you?"

Manami and Anne looked at each other, and shrugged.

"Well, Manami and Anne just came, so that's understandable. But…Hilbert? You don't see it?"

"Maybe you should explain a little mo-"

"Bianca?" Cheren interrupted, and looked into my eyes again.

I looked down at my feet, slightly embarrassed.

"Team Plasma!"

"Ooohhh…" We all said.

"And _who_ particularly in Team Plasma is following his own ideals?"

"Ghestis!" Manami answered quickly.

Cheren face palmed, while everyone else sweat dropped.

"I'm just kidding! It's M!"

"Don't you mean N?"

"Whatever!"

"Yeah. And Ghestis said that Team Plasma was going to reawaken it." He said. "In the legend, the only way the brothers got along was with the other dragon, they both fought, but they found their own faults, and came back together.

"My hypothesis," He paused, somewhat frightened to share the news.

"N is the hero of the black dragon; Zekrom."

Sara's POV

I awkwardly sat there on the couch, looking occasionally at N when he was eating his stew.

"So, you guys know each other?" The mom asked.

"Uhm, yeah, we're rivals, I guess." I said.

_"You know you're at least a little more than rivals! If not, romantically involved with each other."_

_"Hey! I would not like to talk, er-think about my feelings for him right now!"_

This turned into an argument with myself, quickly stopped by a question about sleeping arrangements.

"Oh, I have a sleeping bag that I could use. It's quite comfortable actually." I said.

"No, I'll sleep on the floor if I have to," N said. "I couldn't let such an exquisite girl as Sara have to; it's not very polite."

I could imagine that my face was beet red.

The woman giggled. "I'll let you two decide for yourselves, I've got to put my children to bed."

"Oh, alright." I said, somewhat nervously.

"Thank you for everything, ma'am." N said.

"Oh my, what a polite boy." The woman muttered to herself. "You're welcome." She said, and walked away.

"It's hard to find any nice people now-a-days." N said. "A lot of people think I'm crazy when I tell them I can hear their Pokémon speaking."

_"Especially when it's the first thing that you say to them."_ I thought to myself, remembering when I first met N in Accumula Town. "Oh, well you're the only person I know who can speak to Pokémon." Was all I found myself saying.

I mentally kicked myself. _"Of course he is! He's the only one anyone knows who can!"_

"I don't understand why other people can't; it's just like talking to a human, except it's much easier for me to talk to Pokémon."

"R-Really?" I asked, looking down at my feet. I felt kind of disappointed and sad for him. It's always nice to have human friends too.

"But…It's different with you," He started. "I feel comfortable around you; I don't have to act different like I would in front of any other humans."

I blushed uncontrollably and kept looking down at my feet._ "That means that if he ever ran into my other friends, he would act differently?"_

After a few second of silence, I decided that I would show him the guest room.

I grabbed his hand and led him over. I immediately blushed, partially regretting what I had done.

Just…sort of regretting.

Luckily, when I opened the door to the guest room, I saw my stuff neatly laid at the corner of the room, where my Pokémon also slept.

"You're still keeping those Pokémon in those poke balls, huh?"

I felt like glaring at him, but I soon remembered that I had to be patient when it comes to _him._

"Yes, but so do you; even if it is for a different reason." I answered quickly, and turned around.

Without a word, N let out his Klink, a Pokémon that Prof. Juniper had been very interested in lately.

"What happened…to your other Pokémon?' I asked, hoping that he wouldn't send out his spider Pokémon.

"I released them." He answered simply.

The first thing that hit me was pain, but then confusion. "Why? I asked. "Even though you don't believe in battling with them or keeping them in poke balls, they helped you out, and I know you love them, but…why?"

"Pokémon don't deserve to bear with anyone forever," He said. "I only keep them for the upcoming Gym battle, so that I can move closer to my future. I kept my Klink because it didn't want to be released yet, but that's fine.

"I always listen to my Pokémon." He concluded.

I had nothing to say. It was kind of weird to hear how he does things, it's very interesting.

I plopped down on the bed and pulled the covers over me. We hadn't talked about the sleeping arrangements, and I was kind of nervous to. I pulled the covers down to look at N.

"Do…we have to sleep…" I trailed off, not wanting to continue the rest of the sentence.

"Of course we have to sleep!" N answered. "If we didn't, we would be out of energy, and we wouldn't be able to travel. Didn't someone teach you that?" He asked, and placed his hand on my head.

"That's not what I meant, silly!" I said, and took his hand off of my head. I sighed deeply, before quickly asking the question.

"Will we have to sleep in the same bed?"

He blinked a couple of times, possibly processing my quick spoken question. "I guess so."

"…Excuse me?"

"Is something wrong with it?" He asked.

"Um, yeah, it's…_kind of_ awkward!" I retorted, sugarcoating the words "Kind of".

"I don't see how; it's just as if I were sleeping with my mom when I was younger; but I don't even remember those days; I just know that I did." I said.

"Well, it's pretty late; I guess I have no other choice." I mumbled quietly.

He sat down on the other side, and also got under the covers, making it extra awkward. I don't think that I've ever felt my face so red.

"Sara?"

"Yeah?"

He paused for a moment, his face flushing pink. "What do humans of the opposite gender mean by loving each other? How is it different from a human and Pokémon's relationships?" He asked honestly.

My face was so warm that it felt like it would make my head explode.

_"Bianca told me that if it's between a boyfriend and a girlfriend that it's more of a sexual desire…Oh Arcues, I'm going to die."_

"It's a deep affection between those two people," I said nervously. "Not so much the affection between Pokémon and people…Oh Arcues, how do I explain this in your terms?"

A lightbulb soon popped on in my head. "It's when to people like each other enough to want to be with each other forever, or in the Pokémon world, mates.

"It's a warm, fuzzy, and ambiguous feeling." I said.

"Oh, that makes it easier." He said. "There's many of people like that I've seen on my journey, I don't think it's bad. I've come to understand my feelings more on this journey, and with the help of my Pokémon."

"That's right; Pokémon can help you to understand things better too!" I said and smiled.

He was still sitting slightly up, so I decided to prop myself up on my elbow. "Something wrong?" I asked.

He looked over at me, his green eyes filled with mystery, but a slightly confused look spread across his face.

"I-I was right…you can have visions too."

I nodded slightly, and remembered that my very last one was about him.

"A-And you're the only one I've met on my journey who has qualms about the relationships between people and Pokémon."

I nodded again.

"We're so alike, but…"

A sorrowful look spread across his face.

"With my relationship in Team Plasma, I don't know if I can be with you like this anymore…"

I felt heartbroken again. Why? Is it because I'm a threat to Team Plasma, or because of another reason?

"Please don't be upset." He said. I moved my elbow from underneath me and laid my head on the plush pillow.

"Have I ever told you that I can be myself around you?" he asked. "I don't have to be the emotionless King that everyone thinks I am. I may not be able to pin my emotions, but I _can_ feel them."

He had moved his head down on his pillow so that he could look me in the eye.

"I can tell what I feel when I see your friends. Jealousy is one of them. They always get to travel with you, and they get to know you more than I do." He said.

I blushed, and he definitely didn't miss it, because it brought a slight smile to his face. "I-I've told you some things about my family that they definitely don't know."

A shocked look filled his eyes. "I guess they're not that bad. I mainly judge them by what I hear their Pokémon's voices, and what they're saying." He admitted.

"When it comes to you, I feel… _ambiguous_." He said, and smiled. "Warm, happy, nervous, comfortable, sympathy…many more things. Maybe even…

"Love."

For some reason, instead of blushing, my eyes started swimming with tears of joy.

"R-Really?"

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to his chest. "I think I might. All of the people from Team Plasma; especially the Shadow Triad, would make fun of me and call me Romeo if I asked them what love meant, so I asked you."

_"Wow, I can't believe it took me this long to figure out why they call me Juliet…"_

"This might be the last time I get to spend time with you like this for a while." He said.

"I wouldn't mind it like this too much." I said.

He laughed lightly, and hugged me tighter. "Good night, Sara." He kissed me softly on the forehead.

He went to sleep, holding me like this. I couldn't help but blush in pure bliss.

_"He might love me back…"_

**_A few hours later_**

I heard a light hum come from my bags. N's arms were loose around me, so I carefully took them off and walked over to my bags.

On the screen, there was a new text message from Bianca. I opened it up and read it. She was telling me about Unova's legendary dragon Pokémon and how some other Pokémon related to the story. Apparently, it was something that Cheren and Anne had researched. The conclusion slightly shocked me, but not too much:

_"N is the hero of the black dragon; Zekrom."_

I quickly texted her back:

_"Well, he does follow his ideals, and he told me that I could stop him and race him to the Pokémon league if I wanted, but I don't think that this is the case. Who would the hero of Truth be?"_

About a minute later, a new text appeared on the screen:

_"We all think its Brendon; even though he already has two of the legendary Musketeer Pokémon, there's a high chance that he could be the hero. Think about it, there's something mysterious about him, even you would agree, right? Cheren said that he has a balanced Pokémon team, and even though his Oshawott hasn't evolved, it knows Hydro Pump and lots of other strong moves! Plus, he has two legendary Pokémon to back him up!"_

_"Should I text Brendon and tell him?" _I asked.

_"If you want…." _Came the reply.

_To:_ _Brendon_

_From: Sara_

_"Hey there, I got some big news. We think that N's the Hero of Ideals; have you heard the legend?"_

I waited a few moments until his reply came.

_"Yeah ,I've heard about it recently, and it would make sense that he's the Hero of Ideals. But who would the Hero of Truth be?"_

I don't know how I should tell him that it's probably him, but I guess I could try.

_"We all think it's you…I mean, you're really strong, and you weren't at all afraid to confront N or Ghestis. One of the qualities for the Hero of Truth is courage. The others are wisdom, intelligence, kind, strong, but somewhat gentle"_

_"Wow,"_ Came the reply. _"I'm kind of shocked that it was me, considering that I already have both of the Musketeer Trio."_

_"I don't really know much about it, we'll talk about it next time we see you."_

_"Okay, I'll wait for you guys in Iccurius City._

I didn't tell either of them about what happened between N and I; it's kind of…awkward. I guess they'll have to figure it out themselves.

**_The next morning…_**

**Narrarator's POV**

Sara woke up and looked at N. His green hair was wild and covered his face, instead of in a neat ponytail like it usually was.

She smiled, and got up to get ready. She returned all of my Pokémon to their poke ball, excluding Emolga.

Sara walked outside of the house onto the damp grass. She fed my Pokémon with some fresh fruit from the trees outside. They all squealed in delight, before she returned them.

Sara walked forward until she saw a tall mountain, and a slope leading up to a cliff leading into it. She looked at her regional map and saw that she was heading into Twist Mountain, which would lead to Iccurius City. That's where Brendon would be waiting for her and her friends.

"That's right, I have to beat Cheren!" She said to herself aloud.

"Sara!"

She turned around and saw all of her friends; excluding Brendon and his friends.

"Let me guess; Cheren, you want to battle me."

"Yeah, we need to test who's stronger!" He said.

"Okay, go Dewott!"

"Predictable as always," Cheren said, and pushed up his glasses. "Go, Servine!"

~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~

Up on the cliff, a man walked out of the Mountain to the edge of the cliff. He looked down and saw Cheren and Sara battling, along with Hilbert and Bianca watching them. Two other young women he didn't know were also watching them.

_"That's the young man who was so focused on the concept of strength; and the young woman who had excellent talent for someone so young…"_

"We'll, if it ain't the champion himself."

The man turned around and saw the Gym Leader Clay.

"Why Clay, it's been a while!" he said, and smiled.

Clay looked down on the scene that The Unovan Champion was watching. "Those young un's have an imposin' battle style. They've suure gotten better since I last saw them."

"I agree, they've gotten much better." Alder said.

"Well, I'll be about my business now." Clay said, and walked into the mountain.

Alder kept watching the ongoing battle for a few minutes, until a strange figure appeared and stood next to him.

"Isn't this a fine Pokémon battle?" Alder asked the stranger.

"Possibly," He said. "The appropriate word would be "Interesting"."

"How so?" Alder asked curiously.

"They're Pokémon are very different," Came the reply. "Her Pokémon are quite glad to be with her, though I cannot grasp why. They're voices are somewhat pleased, and happy.

"His Pokémon are confused," He continued. "They want to live up to his standards, but it's quite hard for them. They're sad whenever he loses, and try to train their hardest to win the next time. I don't really like the way that he trains his Pokémon, with harsh drills and routines, but not meaning to harm them. The girl will practice with them, but she also seems happy to be around them, and they like to be around her too."

Alder looked at the stranger, a confused look spreading across his face. "What do you mean by their voices?"

The stranger looked back at him. "You can't hear them either? I really pity you humans…"

An even more confused look spread across his face. "Who exactly are you?"

A hesitant pause followed his question. "My name…is N, and if I'm correct, you're the champion of this region."

_"N…that name sounds familiar…"_ Alder stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, I am the champion of this region."

"I believe I'll be seeing you again…" N said, and walked into the cave.

Alder scratched his head, and gave a thoughtful look after N walked away. He continued to watch the almost finished battle.

"Emolga, finish it off with Volt Switch!"

Sparks surrounded Emolga as it charged forward to Cheren's Tranquill, defeating it with the type advantage.

"Yeah, I won!" Sara exclaimed happily.

Sara's POV

A disappointed look spread across Cheren's face. "I'll admit; Pokémon battles are fun, but what is it to truly be strong."

I looked at my other friends, and we gave each other questioning gestures and glances.

"I-"

"My, that was a fine Pokémon battle! I'm glad to see that both of you are growing as trainers!"

We all looked up at the cliff.

"Alder!" I exclaimed.

"Who?" Anne asked.

Manami gasped. "That's the Unova region's Champion, Alder!"

Alder literally jumped off of the cliff, and landing with one knee on the ground, his hand supporting himself.

"He does know that there's stairs, right?" Anne whispered.

"I believe so." Manami whispered back, her eyes sparkling. "Champions are cool like that!"

Anne sweatdropped, and then looked at Alder.

"Well, if it isn't the Champion, Alder." Cheren said. "I'm so weak that I lost!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sara asked in an offended tone.

"Honestly Cheren, just accept the compliment without a stinging remark." Alder replied casually. "I've asked you this before, but what do you plan to do after becoming stronger?"

Cheren smirked to himself. "If I get strong and take your place as Champion, which I probably will-"

"There he goes again with his stinging remarks…" Alder mumbled, and sweatdropped.

"…that will be the reason for being a Champion; I want to prove that I'm truly alive by become stronger and stronger."

"Hmmm…" Alder stroked his chin like he usually would. "You remind me of Marshal."

Manami gasped quietly again. "Marshal's an Elite Four who specializes in fighting types."

"Of course," Alder continued. "It is important to have a goal in mind…but what's even more important is how you use your strength, and your definition of it. What is the definition of strength?"

We all paused, not able to find an answer.

"I'm not quite sure myself," Cheren admitted. "I have what I think, but I don't know for sure. What is it?"

"I'm not quite sure myself either!" Alder exclaimed. We all fell anime style.

He laughed out loud. "Everyone has their own definition of strength, and that will affect how you use it." He said.

"And who might you two be?" Alder asked Manami and Anne.

Anne looked down shyly. "I'm Manami, and this is Anne." Manami introduced. "We came here from Hoenn since there were some crazy cosplay people running around and stealing people's Pokémon and talking about three legendary Pokémon, hoping that there wouldn't be any here." She explained. "Sara also came from Hoenn, so we decided to come here with her."

"Crazy cosplay teams, eh?" Alder asked, and then chuckled. "Sounds a lot like it is here. If I'm correct, the Champion from Hoenn is Steven Stone?"

Manami shook her head. "Wallace Mikuri took his role soon before Team Magma and Aqua started to appear."

"Ah, that's right, Wallace!" Alder exclaimed. "I shall see you all again, young trainers! Remember that you're Pokémon are always there for you!" He said, and released a Pokémon out of its poke ball.

We quickly brought our pokedexes out to scan it, and we got it right before Alder flew away on it:

_Druddigon: It warms its body by absorbing sunlight with its wings. When its body temperature falls, it can no longer move._

"Let's go into Twist Mountain!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah!" We all agreed.

We were all walking together in the cave. I was trying to avoid those spider Pokémon, holding on to the person closest to me, a different person each time.

"What a surprise; seein' ya'll here while I was inspecting my Mountain."

"C-Clay!"

Manami gasped. "I'm meeting so many famous people today!" She beamed.

"By th' by, any of you seen that Plasma crowd lately?"

I looked down at my feet and blushed. _"N…"_

"Yes, we have." Anne said.

"In fact, we saw them in Mistraltion City." Cheren finished.

"Ah, that's interestin'. 'Cause after all of that trouble, us Gym Leaders had a chat. Personally, we hadn't seen them anywhere lately; kind of like they've been hidin' under a rock." He said.

"Not much to do but wait for 'em to make their move.

"Anyhow, you young un's shouldn't be worryin' 'bout it too much; ya should just enjoy yer journey with dem Pokémon of yer's." Clay ordered.

We all looked at each other, and then hesitantly nodded.

"You'll have some fun if you just leave this here path... Weeell... Better ya just see it yerself, 'stead o' listenin' to me yammer. Be seein' ya, sprouts! Feel free to train yerselves on my mountain fer as long's ya like." He said and walked away.

"An' remember; ya always want to live honestly fer yerself and yer Pokémon." He added, and then continued to walk away.

'Well, we should get going too." Cheren said, and my friends started to walk away.

"Coming?" Hilbert asked.

'I-I'll catch up." I said.

He cast me one last glance, and then walked away.

"Emolga, I'm still caught up into all of this." I said, my voice starting to waver.

It started to pull on my hair. "_Gah!"_

"I really do wish I could understand you." I said sadly.

My other Pokémon popped out of their pokeballs and surrounded me.

Now…I have a reassuring feeling…like no matter what happens, it's all going to be okay.

"Thanks guys, return." I said, and smiled.

I walked forward in Twist Mountain. I saw an exit straight ahead of me.

"Already?" I asked myself. I walked outside onto a wooden bridge. Out before me, there were many bridges that led to other entrances of the cave.

"Aw shoot." I said.

It took me a while to walk through the cave. I found many of those pesky spider Pokémon before finding one that I really wanted. It was a baby cub that was oh so cute! It was an ice type named Cubchoo. I used Larvesta's fire attack's to defeat it.

When it looked like it was about to faint, I pulled out a poke ball.

"Alright! Go…poke ball…" I threw it weakly at the tiny cub Pokémon.

_"N…why can't you understand?" _Thinking about him brought tears to my eyes.

The Cubchoo popped out of the poke ball, with a string of energy left.

"I'm going to catch you this time; for _his _sake!" I yelled. "Go, poke ball!"

It wiggled slowly, on the ground of the cave. Once, twice…it hesitated before clicking a third time.

I picked up the poke ball and smiled. _"A Pokémon caught in for your sake, N. I'll show you that my way isn't as bad as you think."_

When I walked out of an exit, there were dorms for some construction workers and vending machines. I decided to buy my Pokémon drinks, they obviously deserved it. After a few more entrances, I saw what looked like to be the final entrance. I walked a little forward, and saw Cheren, blocking Bianca from someone, and then saw the rest of my friends behind Bianca.

"Look kid," I heard a voice say. "Even your little girlfriend here said that she wasn't sure if she deserved her Pokémon; you might as well hand yours over too."

I could tell by the words that it was someone from Team Plasma. Still, Cheren ignored the fact that the Plasma goon had been mocking him and Bianca.

"If you really want to set Pokémon free…" Cheren started. "If that's what you truly want, then why don't you start with your own? But taking people's Pokémon by force isn't right at all.

"It's not what true strength is!"

The Plasma goon growled at him, and the swiftly turned around and exited the cave.

"T-Thank you Cheren!" Bianca beamed before hugging him. "You were very brave!"

He hugged her back. "Just be more careful next time, okay?"

"Nice Cheren. Nice." I said, and started to laugh. Hilbert, Manami, and Anne started to laugh too. Cheren ignored our remarks, even though his face was crimson red.

"What a bothersome bunch," He said, trying to change the subject. "Going the extra mile to cause pain and trouble…"

"Let's just walk right into Iccurius City!" Hilbert exclaimed, and pushed his way through.

Iccurius City had very brisk weather, despite the fact that it was sunny out. There wer marshes, forests, slopes that led to the house and other buildings and a windmill.

But something else caught my attention.

It was the familiar figures dressed in waiter outfits with colorful hair, and were somehow siblings!

"Hey, is that who I think it is?" Bianca asked.

"Yep, no one else like them!" Hilbert said.

"Yo Chili! Cress! Cilan!" I yelled, and ran over to them, my friends following.

"More Gym Leaders?" Manami asked. "Best day ever~!"

"Hey there Sara." Cilan greeted. "I see you've made some new acquaintances."

"Oh, this is Manami and Anne, my childhood friends from Hoenn." I intoduced.

All of the brothers shook their hands, with and charming smile along with a "Nice to meet you, miss."

Manami and Anne both turned shades of red. "N-Nice to meet you too…" They said awkwardly.

"E-EH? !" Hilbert exclaimed, quite shocked.

"What brings you guys here?" I asked.

'Well, the Pokémon League wanted us to prepare you fine trainers for your challenge at the Pokémon league, and-"

"Get to the point, Cilan!" Chili interrupted impatiently. 'We're opening a one week training course for you all here, and some friend of yours named Brandon or somethin' also signed up along with his friends!"

"Actually, it's Brendon." A voice from behind us said.

Brendon and his friends were standing behind us.

"Brendon? You signed up?" I asked. "I thought you guys were in a hurry…"

"Well, I thought why not? We do need to discuss that whole thing about me being the Hero of Truth." He said nervously.

"Hero…of Truth?" Cress asked.

"Oh…we'll tell you guys." I said. Cheren and Anne started to explain the legend and their research.

"Well," Cilan said. "I don't think that anyone can know for sure." The brothers cast each other slight sideways glances. "If anyone, it's the high members of Team Plasma."

We all looked at each other, and nodded. "Okay, I guess you're right."

"So, you guys want to prepare us before the Pokémon League?" Cheren asked.

"Correct."

"Then…why didn't you have in Opelucid City?"

They all looked at each other, and paused. "Chili, please explain to them why." Cilan said.

"Why me?" Chili hissed back.

"Just explain, Chili!" The calm Cress hissed back.

"Uhm, well, you see…" Chili stuttered. "T-The buildings at Opelucid City were too expensive! It was especially Cilan who wanted it there, since there's something, er, some_one_ very very important to him there…"

Cilan started to panic. "Chili, don't you dare-"

"Her name is Iris."

"Chili, I swear to Arcues that I'm going to kill you someday!" Cilan yelled.

"Just expose his secret." Cress said.

"..W-What?" Chili asked.

"What secret?" Cilan asked, an evil gleam sparkling in his eye.

"You didn't know? That he's also interested in someone?"

"So are you, Cress!" Chili yelled. "SKYLA, SKYLA, SKYLA!" He jeered, and stuck his tongue out.

"Sara…"

"Yes, Manami?"

"Again, you have very interesting Gym Leaders."

"I agree." All of Brendon's friends said.

"Can we just sign up? !" Cheren asked impatiently.

'Okay, that's all you had to say. You're in."

"No papers?" He asked.

Cilan shook his head. "Even the strongest of promises don't have to be signed by papers." Cilan said, as if referring to something.

Chili and Cress looked down at the floor guiltily.

"We will also be asking some of the Unovan Gym Leaders to come and help out, but there are some very important people that Cress got a hold of to come." Cilan said. "They should be here any minute…"

"Cress?"

"Yes, youngest brother Chili?" Cress asked innocently.

"Who's coming?"

Cress smirked. "You'll find out for yourself."

A few minutes later, a huge crowd surrounded another entrance, or in our state exit.

"That's what it was like when we came…" Cilan said and sweatdropped.

We all ran near the crowd.

"Excuse me!" A feminine voice rang out. "How rude these people are!"

"Caitlin, calm down." A smooth gentlmen-like voice said.

'Well, at least I'm not suffering from stage-fright like Shauntal is!"

Once she said that, the small crowd slowly backed away. A young girl about Chili or Bianca's age had her arms crossed, and was glaring at a man with black hair and a bright yellow scarf the stood out from the rest of his dark clothes. The young teen was wearing a white and pink poofy hat, and a pink dress with white laces and ruffles which looked like a nightgown. She had poofy, long blonde hair under her hat. Hiding behind the man with dark clothes was a woman with glasses, and purple and black clothes that matched her hair and eyes. In the middle of them, stood a buff Martial arts trainer dressed in a gei.

"Shauntal Shikimi, what _are_ you doing?" The man dressed in dark clothes asked.

"This is how you'd act if you spent most of your time writing novels in a dark room, remember, Grimsely?" The shy girl with glasses retorted back.

"Why cower behind me?" He asked in a smooth voice.

"Grimsley!"

"Marshal, why do these two always quarrel?" The small teen asked.

The Martial arts trainer shrugged in response.

"C-Cress! You contacted…_them?" _Chili stammered, his face turning as red as his hair.

"Yes, dear brother Chili." Cress mocked in the same innocent accent. "Any of them stand out to you?"

"Ah, I think I know what's going on here." Cilan said.

"N-No way!" Chili stammered.

Manami and Cheren were gaping at the quartet of interesting people.

"What's wrong?" I asked politely.

"T-They're…

"The Elite Four!"

_To be continued…_

**Melody: What's going on between Sara and N?**

**Cheren and Bianca?**

**Is Brendon really the Hero of Truth?**

**Is N really the Hero of Ideals?**

**Why did Hilbert panic when the brothers shook Manami and Anne's hands?**

**What's up (or wrong) with the Straiton boys?**

**Why was Chili so worried when the Elite four came?**

**How did Cress become so evil and mischevous?**

**Does Chili really love someone? And if so, WHO? !**

**WHY AM I ASKING YOU THESE QUESTIONS THAT I KNOW THE ANSWERS TO?**

**BECAUSE IT'S DRAMATIC AND MANY GREAT AUTHORS DO, AND I WANT TO BECOME A GREAT AUTHOR SOMEDAY!**

**Hahaha…-_-' Anyways…**

**_Please Review!_**


	22. Black Dragon

**I AM SO SORRY. HOW WILL I MAKE IT UP TO YOU GUYS? I'LL GIVE YOU COOKIES OR WRITE YOU A BONUS CHAPTER OR SOMETHING! Some way to apologize…GOMEN NASAI! *bows* Write something in your review if you want cookies or whatever :D Pasta works too ;D**

**Okay, I didn't update not only because I had a nasty writer's block, but something even worse; SCHOOL. *le gasp* Okay. I was thinking of updating during breaks, but it never hit me how BUSY I was. Okay. I had TWO LONG seasons of basketball this year. That took up most of my time. Then I had my martial arts class, and my black belt test is THIS YEAR. Pressure much, lol. I also had a trip for D.C. that I spent a while raising money for, working for, and packing for. And then, towards the end of the year, I signed up for a play. Even if I was a random person in the background, I still had to attend practice. And do nothing. Except homework. Yes, I've caught the acting bug (lol, wut?) so that takes up a lot of my time.**

**Another reason I'll be BUSY over the SUMMER (you read right) is not only because I have camp and vacation, but I probably have a lot more responsibilities than most of you. This is a personal subject, but I'll give you a light touch of it. My dad can't work because he has a liver disease, and often gets tired, and confused and such. Last summer it wasn't as bad (no dur, I was updating this story like every day), but he's gotten worse. My mom works all every day except for weekends; on Fridays, she does work at home so that she could be with my dad and stuff. Sometimes my dad can take care of himself, but a lot of the time, I have to cook breakfast and lunch, help him out a lot, keep my sister from bugging him too much, and voluntarily clean parts of the house so my mom has less to do. I still have time to go on the computer and draw and read or whatever, but not enough time to write 5 chapters in a day, 'kay?**

**I hope you're happy I found time to write. You better be pretty freaking happy. *eye twitch***

**Anyway, I don't own anything except my OC's. ….I own myself! :D /shot/**

No Particular POV

A day already passed since the gang first arrived in Iccuris city. It was obviously very cold there, so they always bundled up. Cheren would always ask questions that didn't make sense, and they would even confuse the Elite Four.

"You know what?" Caitlin said. "I don't know, dammit! I'm not a freakin' professor! My hobbies are sleeping and Pokémon battling, okay? So don't expect me to know every damn thing!"

Silence….

"Sorry…" Cheren said and sat down.

_She has quite a mouth for someone only a couple years younger than us…. _Sara thought to herself.

"I accept your apology. As I was saying—"

A younger kid in the back raised her hand.

Caitlin sighed impatiently. "Yes? Please try to make it a reasonable question." Her glare flitted over to Cheren before turning her focus back to the younger girl.

"What does that word mean? Da….Dammit?"

Caitlin covered her mouth, face red from embarrassment.

Poor Caitlin. Sara tried to think of something quick to help her out. "It's a secret word! You can't say it anywhere else, okay?"

The girl looked at Sara confusingly. "Why?"

"Erm….because—"

The door of the room opened, and we saw the enthusiastic red head pop in. "Everyone okay? I heard yelling…."

Caitlin sighed. "I suppose we're fine."

"I can take over now if you need a break." Chili offered.

"Okay. Thank you." She quickly walked out of the room.

It took a few seconds for Chili to process what just happened.

"Damn! I didn't expect her to say yes! It was just the freaking polite thing to do!" He hastily paced around the room, as if he could get himself out of the situation he got himself into by doing that.

There were other kids than just Sara and Brendon's friends; the children who lived here were also attending the school too. They learned some new words today, that's for sure…

"Any questions?" Chili asked.

"Ye-"

"No!" Sara interrupted what could've been another ridiculous question from Cheren.

"Okay then just…I don't even know….just talk or something, as long as you stay in the room before the period ends." The red head walked over to the teacher's desk, sat down on the chair, and put his arms back and his feet up on the chair, as if this were a period to catch up on sleep.

"...That was weird…" Manami said.

"Yeah…I'm not even used to this level of weirdness…" Sara admitted.

"I can't believe they haven't been able to come up with an answer for most of my questions." Cheren sighed.

"Maybe because they're scenarios that don't make any sense…" Hilbert said.

"They could happen!"

"Oh yeah? When?"

"How am I supposed to know? That's why I'm asking them!"

"How are they supposed to know?"

"They might!"

"O-Okay guys, we should—"

"And _why_ would they even be in a situation like that?"

"They just might have!"

"Why are you guys even fighting about this?" Sara interrupted.

"Stay out of this!" They both barked, and then continued 'arguing'.

Sara looked over at Chili, who was somehow managing to ignore their so called 'argument' and many other weird conversations around the room. Sara knew one thing for sure.

This was going to be a long week.

~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~LE LINE BREAK~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~

"Hey guys, look! Sara's out of the gym!" Bianca yelled. Once she said that, they all ran toward her.

"Omg, Sara, Sara, did you win? Lemme see your new badge!"

Sara just smiled. "Sorry, I don't have it yet."

"Really? You didn't beat him?"

Sara shook her head. "It's okay though; I'm sure I'll beat him next time!"

Manami chuckled. "I always wanted to be as optimistic as you."

Sara looked over at her old friend. "I have my moments."

"That's right…" Anne agreed, and chuckled.

Shauntal, who also happened to be there, patted Sara's shoulder. "I think you'll get it next time."

"Thanks." Sara smiled. "Hey, where are the other three Elite Four members?"

Shauntal looked around confusingly. "They're not here? I thought they said…"

Soon after she said that, the gym leader, Brycen, walked quickly out of the gym. "Something seems….off here…" He said to himself. "I can sense it."

The group of pokemon trainers, along with Shauntal, looked around confusingly.

Brycen narrowed his eyes. "Who are you? Show yourselves!"

This caused even more confusion amongst the trainers. "Well, I'm Bianca, remember?"

He sighed. "Not you…Look, I know you're there so you might as well show yourselves."

Right after he said that, three figures appeared around the group, startling them all.

"Huh. Someone noticed us; how unusual. Impressive."

Sara moaned. "What do you want now? I'm tired of you all! Can't you just leave me alone?"

"S-Sara, calm down…" Hilbert said.

"I told you she'd be with other people." One of them retorted.

"What should it matter if I am? Do you just try to hide and confront me when I'm alone, without the strength of others to support me?" She nearly yelled.

"Our mission was to talk with you alone, but I guess that can't be done." One replied calmly. "It's a message from Ghestis. 'Come to Dragonspiral Tower; it is there that our lord N awaits for you.'"

"Huh. At least it's not a death threat…" Sara muttered to herself. "Fine, I'll do what the old man wants."

One of them couldn't help but chuckle, which earned him a smack upside the head from the taller one.

"Hey! Oh, yeah. So uh….our mission's over so…See ya!"

And with that, they disappeared.

"…What just happened?" Hilbert asked.

"I have no clue."

"Oh, okay."

"Hey you guys, time to come back to the building now."

Sara turned around to see Cilan there with his brothers. "Uhm…There's a more important issue…" Sara then began to tell them what happened. When she was done, the other three Elite Four member joined the group.

"I'm sorry but if you want to challenge the gym, you'll have to wait. I'm going to Dragonspiral tower." Brycen said.

"I'm coming as well." Cheren stated and followed him.

"Wait for me!" Hilbert yelled, and ran after him.

Sara and the others followed behind him, making sure to stay close to them, yet with a good distance.

~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~LE LINE BREAK~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~

"Sara, go on! Brendon and his friends are also ahead to help out." Hilbert said.

"But—"

"Go! We'll be fine, you should know that!" Manami said.

Sara nodded, and ran ahead. Her friends and Brycen were taking care of most of the grunts, but she had to battle a couple of them. She then walked up more stairs, only to find a spiral sort of maze. She sighed. Weren't there enough mazes in this tower? It took her a few tries before she could finally advance to the next floor.

When she got to the next floor, she laid eyes on Brendon and his friends. She was about to yell out to them when they signaled her to be quiet, and beckoned her over to where they were standing behind a pillar.

As swiftly and quietly as possible, she came next to them, and peeked out at the scene that lay in front of them. One of the Plasma Sages was talking to four of the all too familiar Plasma grunts that they've come to know.

"There's less and less doubt that our Lord N _will_ be the hero!" He addressed in what Sara found a rather arrogant voice.

The statement confused Sara at first, but then it hit her like a bullet in between her eyes. She suddenly remembered what being the hero meant. Her eyes widened, and her face slightly paled. "….I…should've seen it…" Even as quietly as she muttered this, the sound of her soft voice bounced around the area off the stone pillars and walls as if it were a basketball bouncing loudly on concrete.

The sage abruptly turned around and faced the group. Sara was shaking her head in her hands, as if the action could erase all that was happening.

"You-! How did _five_ of you manage to get up here?"

Sara opened her mouth to say something, but only found herself stammering. Luckily, one of her friends spoke for her.

"It's good to know a lot of people. Strength united is stronger."

Sara suddenly felt ashamed of herself. She thought of all the times she tried to hide things from her friends, when really, they could've helped her a lot more than she could imagine.

While Sara was drowning herself in thought, her friends had already begun to battle the grunts.

"Go! You should hurry; anything could be happening."

"Don't worry about us; we've got this!"

"You've got our support!"

Sara nodded, and tried to run as fast as she could.

"_When I thought they were being nosy…they really just wanted to support me…I'm not alone…"_ Sara almost wanted to burst into tears right then and there, but tried to fight them back. She gulped hard, and continued to run.

She ran up the next set of stairs, and immediately hid behind a pillar. She was about to run to the pillar across from her, but she then got a feeling like she shouldn't run; like she should be respectful, as if it were someone's funeral. It wasn't a weird gut feeling, but something in her heart…it made her heart emotionally _hurt_.

She then felt the ground shake violently underneath her, and held her hand strongly onto the pillar to keep from falling. She dared to step out from the shadows to look onto the scene.

Her eyes widened yet again as her face started to lose its color. What she saw before her…It wasn't the N who she got to know…the one who sat with her on a Ferris wheel, teased her, or even hugged her sometimes. No, this was the N who so very strongly from the start followed his passions and ideals, doing almost anything to grasp onto them.

This was Team Plasma's Lord N, and behind him was a black creature that could very well fulfill everything he wanted.

**x.x.x.x**

**This is really short ;_;**

**Sorry at the top if I seemed really pissed off; I'm not pissed off at any of you, I was just stressed by all the new reviews and story alerts. It wasn't anyone individually, so I'm sorry if it seemed that way D': (I'm just annoyed with myself)**

**This chapter fails Dx **

_**Please Review! ^^**_


	23. Important Update Please Read

**Ok guys, just so there's no confusion, I'm telling you guys that I moved the story. I figure it'd be more practical than rewriting it all here. **

**You'll see it if you visit my profile/look at my stories. It's called "An Ideal Truth". So please go check it out if you're still interested!**

**Just wanted to clear that up.**

**So that no one thinks I'm not updating the story.**

**Even though I pretty much said exactly what I just said in the summary of this story.**

**Yup.**


End file.
